Given name & surname · also Latin

Matej

Matej is a masculine given name from Latin, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew. It is used in Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, and Slovene.

Original LatinMatthaeus

Meaning & origin

Where it comes from

Matej comes from Latin, and ultimately from Biblical Hebrew.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How it developed

In Serbo-Croatian usage, Matej developed from MATTHAEUS. In Serbo-Croatian usage, Matej developed from Ματθαῖος.

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2002. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Matej through the years

Babies since 1880
139
139 boys · 0 girls
Most popular year
2005
12 babies
2025
0
Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20
—
Too few births to compare
024682025Highest share 20140.0
Matej in U.S. Social Security birth records, 2002–2025, per million boys born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 258 as a first name in 2020; 190 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Matej’s family of names

In Serbo-Croatian usage, Matej has a diminutive in MATKO. In Serbo-Croatian usage, Matej developed from the Latin form MATTHAEUS. In Serbo-Croatian usage, Matej has a conventional equivalent in the English form Matthew.

Walk Matej’s family in the name graph

MatejMateyМатейМатејMatějMatkoMaťoMaťkoMatthewMateoMatteoMathewMathiasMatthiasMathieuMattiasMateusMathisMattiaMattisMatveyMatthieuMateuszMattiMateMatthaeusMadisMatteusMatasMatijaMatthijsMathijs

Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Around the world

Matej has relatives in 11 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.

SpanishEnglishGermanLatinPolish

Latinwhere Matej comes from · 1 name

Each dot marks where a language is rooted, not where people with the name live today. Bigger dots hold more names. Language locations from Glottolog (CC BY 4.0); map from Natural Earth.

Similar names

If you love Matej, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Biblical Hebrew · Modern

Yohanes

Yohanes is a masculine given name from Dutch, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew. It is used in Indonesian.

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Hebrew · Modern

Abiezer

“my father is help” · “father of help”

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Biblical Hebrew · Modern

Sem

“God has heard” · “asked of God”

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Biblical Hebrew · Modern

Miguelito

“who” · “like”

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Hebrew · Modern

Tahan

“encampment”

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Biblical Hebrew · Modern

Hannes

“God is gracious”

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Biblical Hebrew · Modern

Jacopo

“he will/shall heel”

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Hebrew · Modern

Nethaniah

“Yah has given”

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Sibling ideas

Names that share Matej’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Matej