Thirty years of Matthew
Matthew in numbers
Matthew peaked in 1997 with 7,443 boys and has fallen since, to 353 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 1998 and 2001, from 7,171 to 4,839. It ranked 6th in 1996 and ranks 153rd now. On average it was given to 7,048 boys a year in the late 1990s, 3,805 in the 2000s, 1,251 in the 2010s and 423 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
Similar spellings in the 2025 list†: Mathew (11). Matched by their letters, not by meaning or origin. ONS counts each spelling separately, so these are not added to Matthew.
Milestones
First year in each bandChange
- On last year-1%355 to 353
- 5 years-28%492 to 353
- 10 years-72%1,279 to 353
- 20 years-90%3,633 to 353
- Since 1996-95%7,426 to 353
- Total, 1996 to 202581,284boys
† All changes and totals are Baby Data calculations from ONS counts. A total adds only the published years.
Across the three nations, 2025
Each from its own statistics office, never added togetherRank 153 · ONS · 355 in 2024
Rank 79 · NRS · 70 in 2024
Rank 61 · NISRA · 49 in 2024
England and Wales (ONS) count births in the calendar year; Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland (NISRA) count births registered in the year. Each comes from its own statistics office and they are never added together.
Year by year, 1996 to 2025 Show all 30 yearsHide the table
| Year | Rank | Babies | Change† | 1 in X† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 153 | 353 | -1% | 1 in 852 |
| 2024 | 149 | 355 | -10% | 1 in 859 |
| 2023 | 137 | 394 | -16% | 1 in 769 |
| 2022 | 118 | 469 | -1% | 1 in 662 |
| 2021 | 123 | 472 | -4% | 1 in 678 |
| 2020 | 114 | 492 | -22% | 1 in 639 |
| 2019 | 99 | 633 | -16% | 1 in 520 |
| 2018 | 82 | 757 | -20% | 1 in 446 |
| 2017 | 67 | 948 | -15% | 1 in 367 |
| 2016 * | 53 | 1,110 | -13% | 1 in 321 |
| 2015 | 47 | 1,279 | +5% | 1 in 280 |
| 2014 | 49 | 1,216 | -8% | 1 in 293 |
| 2013 | 47 | 1,319 | -13% | 1 in 272 |
| 2012 | 47 | 1,518 | -13% | 1 in 247 |
| 2011 | 43 | 1,743 | -12% | 1 in 213 |
| 2010 | 41 | 1,984 | -7% | 1 in 187 |
| 2009 | 38 | 2,122 | -16% | 1 in 171 |
| 2008 | 28 | 2,531 | -15% | 1 in 143 |
| 2007 | 24 | 2,969 | -13% | 1 in 119 |
| 2006 | =18 | 3,400 | -6% | 1 in 101 |
| 2005 | 15 | 3,633 | -14% | 1 in 91 |
| 2004 | 12 | 4,227 | -6% | 1 in 78 |
| 2003 | 12 | 4,480 | +3% | 1 in 71 |
| 2002 | 12 | 4,367 | -10% | 1 in 70 |
| 2001 | 9 | 4,839 | -12% | 1 in 63 |
| 2000 | 9 | 5,482 | -11% | 1 in 56 |
| 1999 | 6 | 6,152 | -14% | 1 in 52 |
| 1998 | 6 | 7,171 | -4% | 1 in 45 |
| 1997 | 6 | 7,443 | +0% | 1 in 44 |
| 1996 | 6 | 7,426 | 1 in 45 |
* ONS’s boys’ 2016 file repeats the October total as September, so the 2016 births total is about 932 too low and 1 in X for 2016 is slightly too low. Rank follows ONS: names with the same count share a rank (shown with =). “Under 3” means the name was given to fewer than 3 babies that year, so ONS did not publish it.
Compare Matthew
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Matthew is in the free dataset (CSV and JSON), with the method and how to cite it.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; National Records of Scotland; NISRA. Exact spellings are counted separately and names given to fewer than 3 babies are not published. Figures marked † are Baby Data calculations. How we calculate