Mathilde
Feminine · “mighty in battle”
Mathilde is the French, German and Danish spelling of a name built entirely out of conflict: might and battle. It belonged to a tenth-century German saint and queen, to the wife of William the Conqueror, and to the empress who fought a nineteen-year civil war for the English crown. American use peaked in the 1880s with German and Scandinavian migration, and the name has stayed continuously in use in northern Europe ever since.
How old is the name Mathilde?
Mathilde was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Mathilde alive today was born around 1923, making them about 102 years old. About 700 people named Mathilde are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mathilde most popular?
Mathilde peaked in 1887, reaching #424 nationally. Today it ranks #5722, 5,298 places below that high. See the whole 1887 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Mahthildis to Mathilde
The story of Mathilde
Saint Matilda of Ringelheim, queen of Henry the Fowler and mother of Otto the Great, died in 968 and made the name a standard one across the German-speaking world. It reached England with Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, and then with her granddaughter the Empress Matilda, whose contested claim to the English throne produced the civil war known as the Anarchy. The name was so common in twelfth-century England that its short form, Maud, became a name in its own right. Mathilde is the continental spelling, standard in France, Germany, Denmark and Norway, and it is the form that came to America with nineteenth-century migration.
Meaning
mighty in battle
A Germanic dithematic name, made of two elements as most old Germanic names were: maht, 'might, strength', and hild, 'battle'. Hild is one of the most common second elements in the whole Germanic stock, appearing in Brunhild, Clotilde, Gunhild and Hilda itself. Such names were assembled from a family's stock of elements rather than composed as phrases, so 'mighty in battle' describes the parts accurately without implying that anyone ever meant it as a sentence.
How the name formed
- Mahthildis
- Matilda
- Maud
- Mathilde
Related forms: Mathilde · Mathilde · Matilda · Matilde · Mathilde
Pronouncing Mathilde
mah-TEELD
Two syllables in French, with the stress at the end and a silent final e. German says mah-TIL-duh with three syllables and a sounded ending. English speakers most often reach for MATH-ild or simply substitute Matilda. All three are heard on American bearers, and families generally pick one and hold to it.
Nicknames for Mathilde
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 189432 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #424reached in 1887
- Change vs 2023
- −25.0%21 in 2025, from 28
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Mathilde in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mathilde in German — same name
- Mathilde in French — same name
- Matilda in English — related form
- Matilde in Italian — related form
- Mathilde in Danish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Massachusetts.
Mathildes among us
people named Mathilde are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 76,537 born in 2025 was named Mathilde
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Mathilde sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Mathilde beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mathilde in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has an unusually well-documented history, with three famous medieval bearers.
- Tilde, Tilly, Maud and Mattie give it four short forms in four different traditions.
- The spelling is standard in French, German, Danish and Norwegian, so it travels well in Europe.
- Three national pronunciations compete and none of them is the default American guess.
- It will be respelled Matilda by most Americans writing from dictation.
- The th is silent in French and German but not in English readers' expectations.
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What they receive
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Mathilde
Feminine · #5722 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mathildes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Mathilde are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mathilde in 2025?
- Mathilde ranks #5722 among US girl names in 2025, with 21 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mathilde?
- About 1 in every 76,537 US girls born in 2025 was named Mathilde — 21 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mathilde with classmates?
- Mathilde will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mathilde
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rosina#5722 · Delores#5722 · Vaughn#5722 · Roseline#5722 · Loyal#5722 · Missy#5722 · Danitza#5722 · Margret#5722
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mathilde? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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