Given name & surname
Matisse
“one who is gifted”
Matisse is used as a given name and a surname. One French interpretation is “one who is gifted.”
Original FrenchMattis
Meaning & origin
What it means
One French interpretation is “one who is gifted.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is French.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1988. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Matisse through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 582
- 362 boys · 220 girls
- Most popular year
- 2021
- 28 babies
- 2025
- 21
- #5,755 for boys · #16,430 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +59%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 16 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 5,755 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 75.4% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 5 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (9). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 509 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.
Matisse’s family of names
In French usage, Matisse has a related form in MATHISSE. In French usage, Matisse has a related form in MATIS. Matisse has a related form in Matise.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 12
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Mattisvariant · French
- Matisvariant · French
- Mathissevariant · French
- Mattysvariant · French
- Matthysvariant · French
- Matysvariant · French
- Mattisselikely variant
- Matysevariant
Show 4 moreShow fewer
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Matisse
- Matisse ThybulleAustralian-American basketball playerborn 1997
- Matisse Van KerckhoveBelgian cyclistborn 2006
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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