Given name & surname · also Latin
Matija
“gift of Yahweh”
Matija is a unisex given name from Latin, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew. It is used in Serbo-Croatian.
Original LatinMatthias
Meaning & origin
What it means
Matija goes back to Biblical Hebrew מַתִּתְיָהוּ (Mattiṯyā́hū), meaning “gift of Yahweh.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Matija comes from Latin, and ultimately from Biblical Hebrew.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
In Serbo-Croatian usage, Matija developed from Matthias.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2020. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Matija through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 17
- 17 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2020
- 7 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2023. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 178 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Matija’s family of names
In Serbo-Croatian usage, Matija has a diminutive in MATKO. In Serbo-Croatian usage, Matija developed from the Latin form Matthias. In Serbo-Croatian usage, Matija has a conventional equivalent in the English form Matthew.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Matija has relatives in 6 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
Latinwhere Matija comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 42
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Matthiasroot · Latin
- Mateoequivalent
- MatthewEnglish
- Matteoequivalent
- MatiasPortuguese
- Mathiasequivalent
- Mathewequivalent
- Mattiasequivalent
Show 34 moreShow fewer
- Mateusequivalent
- Mattiaequivalent
- Mathieuequivalent
- Mattisequivalent
- Matveyequivalent
- Matthieuequivalent
- Mateuszequivalent
- Mattiequivalent
- Matthijsequivalent
- Maciejequivalent
- Mathijsequivalent
- Matejequivalent
- Madisequivalent
- Matejaequivalent
- Matteusequivalent
- Mateuequivalent
- Mateequivalent
- Maciejaequivalent
- Maffeoequivalent
- Матвейequivalent
- Matyášequivalent
- MatíasSpanish
- MatthäusGerman
- Matityahuequivalent
- Mazzeoequivalent
- Matjažequivalent
- מתתיהוequivalent
- Matfijequivalent
- Matfeiequivalent
- Mátyásequivalent
- Analequivalent
- Matúšequivalent
- Mazhevequivalent
- Màtijafeminine form
People named Matija
- Matija NastasićSerbian association football playerborn 1993
- Matija SarkicMontenegrin-English association football player (1997–2024)
- Matija LjubekCanoe racer (1953–2000)
- Matija NenadovićSerbian historian and politician1777–1854
- Matija GubecCroatian revolutionary from 16th century1538–1573
- Matija MurkoSlovenian slavicist and historian1861–1952
- Matija BanSerbian writer (1818–1903)
- Matija KvasinaOlympic cyclistborn 1981
- Matija DivkovićBosnian Franciscan and writer1563–1631
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Matija, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Mattathias
“gift of Yah”
>99% boys
Ilija
Ilija is a masculine given name from Old Church Slavonic, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew. It is used in Serbo-Croatian.
>99% boys
Muso
Muso is a masculine given name from Arabic, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew. It is used in Uzbek.
>99% boys
Jehovah
“my lord”
>99% boys
Asser
“happy”
>99% boys
Miguelito
“who” · “like”
>99% boys
Janek
“God is gracious”
>99% boys
Nahor
“snort” · “scorched”
>99% boys