Last name origins & meanings:
- English and Scottish: from the Middle English personal name
Ma(t)thew, vernacular form of the Greek New Testament name
Matthias, Matthaios, which is ultimately from the Hebrew
personal name Matityahu ‘gift of God’. This was taken into
Latin as Mat(t)hias and Matthaeus respectively, the
former being used for the twelfth apostle (who replaced Judas
Iscariot) and the latter for the author of the first Gospel. In many
European languages this distinction is reflected in different surname
forms. The commonest vernacular forms of the personal name, including
English Matthew, Old French Matheu, Spanish
Mateo, Italian Matteo, Portuguese Mateus, Catalan
and Occitan Mateu are generally derived from the form
Matthaeus. The American surname Matthew has also
absorbed European cognates from other languages, including Greek
Mathias and Mattheos.
- It is found as a personal name
among Christians in India, and in the U.S. is used as a family name
among families from southern India.
This name appears in the following lists:
Alliterative Names,
Black History/Civil Rights Leaders,
Poets,
Pioneers/Explorers
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