Mateo Name Meaning

A Spanish form of Matthew, Mateo is a spunky pick for parents looking for something classic yet distinct. He’s also the perfect way to honor a Matthew without directly using the name or sounding too similar.

Religious parents will love his holy meaning of “gift of God”, as a baby boy very much is a blessed gift. The name is also one of sainthood, with Saint Mateo Correa a well-known martyr of the Catholic church.

Mateo works well with the trends of today, his strong -o ending fitting in alongside Milo, Otto, and Leo, while his start is right at home with the popular M names for boys dominating the charts like Mason, Michael, and Maverick. All the while he remains unique, not at all at risk of seeming trendy or dated.

Mateo is also a name that defies the laws of aging, adorable on a toddler and an adult as well. He’s somehow youthful yet mature, mixing and mingling with Aiden and Tyler as well as classic picks like George and James.

For parents who love nicknames, you’re in for a treat. Mateo offers up plenty with Matt, Matty, and Teo the most obvious picks. There are also hidden finds like Mo and Tay if they’re more your speed.

Infographic of Mateo name meaning, which is A Spanish variant of Matthew, Mateo means gift of God.
Ask your friends & family about Mateo…

Mateo Name Popularity

How popular is the name Mateo? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 0 0%
1911 0 0%
1912 849 6 0.0012%
1913 1,066 5 0.0009%
1914 1,302 5 0.0007%
1915 0 0%
1916 1,084 11 0.0011%
1917 0 0%
1918 1,561 5 0.0005%
1919 1,127 12 0.0011%
1920 987 19 0.0017%
1921 1,677 5 0.0004%
1922 1,273 9 0.0008%
1923 1,153 12 0.0011%
1924 1,132 13 0.0011%
1925 1,494 5 0.0004%
1926 1,083 14 0.0013%
1927 1,168 12 0.0011%
1928 1,409 6 0.0006%
1929 1,081 14 0.0014%
1930 1,082 13 0.0012%
1931 1,268 7 0.0007%
1932 1,155 10 0.001%
1933 0 0%
1934 1,100 11 0.0011%
1935 1,080 11 0.0011%
1936 1,208 7 0.0007%
1937 1,234 6 0.0006%
1938 1,099 10 0.001%
1939 1,055 10 0.001%
1940 1,179 8 0.0008%
1941 1,432 5 0.0004%
1942 0 0%
1943 1,154 10 0.0008%
1944 1,263 6 0.0005%
1945 1,134 9 0.0007%
1946 1,102 12 0.0008%
1947 1,270 8 0.0005%
1948 1,262 8 0.0005%
1949 1,240 8 0.0005%
1950 1,211 10 0.0006%
1951 0 0%
1952 1,389 6 0.0003%
1953 1,365 7 0.0004%
1954 0 0%
1955 1,265 10 0.0005%
1956 1,203 12 0.0006%
1957 1,395 7 0.0004%
1958 0 0%
1959 1,331 8 0.0004%
1960 1,410 6 0.0003%
1961 1,347 8 0.0004%
1962 0 0%
1963 0 0%
1964 1,433 6 0.0003%
1965 0 0%
1966 0 0%
1967 1,416 6 0.0004%
1968 0 0%
1969 1,151 15 0.001%
1970 1,191 17 0.0011%
1971 1,354 11 0.0007%
1972 1,184 16 0.0012%
1973 1,462 7 0.0005%
1974 1,446 9 0.0007%
1975 1,086 24 0.0019%
1976 1,638 7 0.0005%
1977 1,212 19 0.0014%
1978 1,169 22 0.0016%
1979 1,217 21 0.0015%
1980 1,881 6 0.0004%
1981 1,386 16 0.0011%
1982 1,308 19 0.0013%
1983 1,188 24 0.0016%
1984 1,118 29 0.0019%
1985 1,251 24 0.0016%
1986 1,758 10 0.0007%
1987 1,339 22 0.0014%
1988 1,427 21 0.0013%
1989 1,225 35 0.0022%
1990 1,536 21 0.0013%
1991 1,385 28 0.0017%
1992 1,383 30 0.0019%
1993 1,316 35 0.0022%
1994 1,095 60 0.0039%
1995 935 90 0.006%
1996 707 177 0.0118%
1997 556 302 0.0204%
1998 520 361 0.0241%
1999 406 558 0.0373%
2000 428 537 0.0352%
2001 371 682 0.0453%
2002 353 737 0.0492%
2003 331 843 0.0554%
2004 319 933 0.0612%
2005 305 1,055 0.069%
2006 274 1,241 0.0793%
2007 286 1,183 0.075%
2008 253 1,377 0.0891%
2009 230 1,559 0.1043%
2010 223 1,597 0.1108%
2011 173 2,165 0.152%
2012 140 2,805 0.1968%
2013 109 3,568 0.2506%
2014 107 3,727 0.2558%
2015 85 4,999 0.3436%
2016 59 6,534 0.4532%
2017 42 7,718 0.553%
2018 37 8,162 0.5941%
2019 26 8,954 0.6614%
2020 20 8,769 0.6889%
2021 15 9,100 0.7444%
2022 11 10,210 0.7739%

Alaska (AK)

Alabama (AL)

Arkansas (AR)

Arizona (AZ)

California (CA)

Colorado (CO)

Connecticut (CT)

District of Columbia (DC)

Delaware (DE)

Florida (FL)

Georgia (GA)

Hawaii (HI)

Iowa (IA)

Idaho (ID)

Illinois (IL)

Indiana (IN)

Kansas (KS)

Kentucky (KY)

Louisiana (LA)

Massachusetts (MA)

Maryland (MD)

Maine (ME)

Michigan (MI)

Minnesota (MN)

Missouri (MO)

Mississippi (MS)

Montana (MT)

North Carolina (NC)

North Dakota (ND)

Nebraska (NE)

New Hampshire (NH)

New Jersey (NJ)

New Mexico (NM)

Nevada (NV)

New York (NY)

Ohio (OH)

Oklahoma (OK)

Oregon (OR)

Pennsylvania (PA)

Rhode Island (RI)

South Carolina (SC)

South Dakota (SD)

Tennessee (TN)

Texas (TX)

Utah (UT)

Virginia (VA)

Washington (WA)

Wisconsin (WI)

West Virginia (WV)

Wyoming (WY)

Data via SSA.gov.


Names Like Mateo

If you like Mateo, you’ll love these other names like Mateo.


What names are diminutives of Mateo?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Mateo sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Mateo, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Matt

Gift of God

Hebrew

Mattie

Gift of God

Hebrew

Matty

Gift of God

Hebrew

Tay

Scottish

Taye

He Has Been Seen

African

Teo

God

Spanish


What names are variants of Mateo?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Mateo.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Madteo

Gift of God

Hebrew

Mateusz

Gift of God

Hebrew

Mathew

Gift of God

Hebrew

Matteo

Gift of God

Italian

Matteus

Gift of God

American

Matthew

Gift of God

Hebrew

Matthias

Gift of God

Welsh

Mattia
Mattias

Gift of God

Hebrew


What names sound like Mateo?

If you like how Mateo sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Mateo.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Galileo

From Galilee

Italian

Maceo

Heavy staff or club

English

Mareo

Rare, uncommon

Japanese

Mario

Manly

Italian

Mattox

Son of Madog

English


What names are similar to Mateo?

Find a name that’s like Mateo, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Antonio

Unknown meaning

Italian

Carlo

Free man

Spanish

Diego

Saint James

Spanish

Giovanni

God is gracious

Italian

Jose

Jehovah will increase

Spanish

Juan

God is gracious

Spanish

Leonardo

Brave lion

Italian

Luis

Famous warrior

Spanish

Santiago

Saint James

Spanish

Xavier

New house

Spanish


Lists With Mateo

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Mateo.


Siblings of Mateo

Mamas with kids named Mateo also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Shalom

Peace

Hebrew

Promise

One's word

English

Jacob

Supplanter

Hebrew

Micah

Who is Like God?

Hebrew

Zacharias

The Lord recalled

Hebrew

Elijah

My God is Yahweh

Hebrew

Khloe

Green sprout

Greek

Martavious

36 Comments

  1. International, beautiful and easy to transcribe in different languages

  2. Dad is a teacher and vetoed most names.
    I love the way it sounds, hope he doesn’t dislike
    It.

  3. my dads name is matthew and everyone calls him matt for short, i like mateo because it is somewhat similar to my dads name but also different which i love, im not a big fan on this name but i want my son to be named after one of my family members i think its sweet 🙂

  4. I had “Teo” on my list of names for the longest time. The night we found out we were having a boy, he told me all of the things he wanted in our son’s name (to honor his late father (Manuel) with a Spanish origin name that starts with an ‘MA’) – Mateo (Teo for short) instantly popped in my head and it stuck, it’s perfect.

  5. Over all i love the name mateo because its mean is gift from god and I believe its true

  6. Mateo is Matthew in Spanish and the meaning of it is “Gift of God” which is perfect because this is a child we had prayed for after such a long time of trying to conceive.

    He truly is our little gift.

    • My friend’s baby is named Mateo.

  7. Gift of God is what Mateo means. Being someone with an autoimmune disease where I wouldn’t have been able to get pregnant or get pregnant and have complications. The fact that I was able to get pregnant and have an amazing pregnancy with no complications. There’s no doubt that my baby boy is not just a blessing from God, but my gift from him.

  8. I chose Mateo because it means gift of God and he truly was! He’s the blessing I needed in my life and the best gift you could ever get

  9. I love the new material because it’s biblical the meaning is gods gift

  10. We loved the meaning behind the name Mateo, “gift of god”. Also, We named him after a family member named Matthew.

  11. It goes very well with our Italian last name, and being Argentinians living in US we wanted a name flexible enough that can work in both English and Spanish. Also, sounds so sweet, just like my little boy!

  12. I always loved the name Mateo not knowing I’ll get pregnant so soon in have a boy.Great timing though on having a baby or seeing myself doing it all over again.I pick the name its different and its special to me…my son does look like a Mateo I waited until he was in my arms to just give him that name it fits him

  13. I had a miscarriage prior to conceiving my son. I saw the name and fell in love. The name means gift from God.

  14. Mateo is a biblical name and it means ” Gift From God”. It’s a strong first name, in Spanish if you’re looking for something short sweet but strong, Mateo is definitely the way to go.

  15. his name means gift from god

  16. It means consecrated by God, he is an answer to our prayers after a miscarriage.

  17. I’m from Mexico and my husband is from the US, we needed a name that could be easily pronounced in both English and Spanish! Also, my husband is Matt (short for Matthew) and we can call the baby Matty (can be short for Mateo!).

  18. A dear friend who unfortunately lost her first baby girl at 6-7 months pregnant, told me that she couldn’t stop thinking of the name Mateo for my baby boy. This was 2 months after having gone through her loss, which I thought was very special. And then when I realized that this meaning was “gift from God” and it’s biblical references, it felt as if the name was meant for us. I got pregnant without really trying at a time that everything in my life seemed to align for this baby boy to be born. I am eternally grateful to have him in my arms after a long labor. And I got the news that my friend was pregnant again with another daughter the day before my body started labor with my son.

  19. Mateo Israel

    Mateo – Gift from God
    Israel – Let God prevail

  20. I pick his name because is biblical and is a great name

  21. I chose Mateo Ignacio for my son that was born in the summer of 2018. Everyone loves his name.

  22. Mateo mean gift of god and i really do like the name of mateo

  23. i love mateo’s name because its in the bible 2nd because when you said his name and second name together: it means the gift that God send from heaven MATEO JARED 3rd because they both are biblical

  24. It’s a strong name without being bombastic – it also has a balance to it. 🙂

  25. His father picked it

  26. I just liked the name had a few in mind but Mateo was the one that i really really liked.

  27. I love that its biblical, its spanish which allows us to keep our culture alive in our kids , its actually our sons middle name as he has the same first name as my husband and wanted to call him something different than JR. It means gift from God which he truly was . I love that he can also go by Teo.

  28. His name was picked because me and my husband couldn’t agree on names so we went with Mateo .

  29. I chose the name because I fell in love with it from the show Jane the virgin and his father is Hispanic the name means gift of god

  30. Me and my husband are catholic Mateo it’s a biblical name and also means gift of God. Also no one from our families still have that name. We just thought it was the perfect for our little boy.

  31. I was using an IUD for birth control and after only 3 years (it was supposed to be good for 5 lol) I found out I was pregnant. Mateo means “Gift from God” and that’s exactly what he is ? Sometimes what you don’t think you need is what you need the most!

  32. I put mateo cause the name mateo means “a gift from god”

  33. The meaning

  34. I am Australian and my husband is Tanzanian. We needed to pick a name that was easy for Australians to say and spell and one that was easy to say in Swahili for the Tanzanians. Also it’s important in Tanzanian culture for the name to having a strong meaning and Mateo means “God’s gift.” Whilst Mateo is common in Europe and South America, it’s not popular in Australia or Tanzania so is still very unique for where we are living which was also important for us. The only thing we are finding out now is that some people in Australia are mispronouncing it as they haven’t heard it said before. Hopefully that won’t be too much of an issue as he’s growing up!

  35. My partner is from Argentina so he wanted a name that was more international. I worked with a guy named Matteo which I liked since it was an unusual name for the US and proposed it to my partner. We used the Spanish version with one T. I dislike that it is shortened to Matty by some people, but I like the nickname my partner’s brother gave him: Mate, which is tea in Argentina. I dislike that it is a religious name since we are not religious, but I do like that it means “gift from God” because he truly is a gift.


Share your thoughts on the name Mateo

Your email address will not be published. All fields are required *

*