Matilda

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Matylda in PL Poland, CZ Czechia, Matilde in ES Spain, Матильда in RU Russia and Матільда in UA Ukraine.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 13 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Matilda is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name98K records spelled Matilda12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Argentina, United States, Chile, Brazil

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French

  Also written Matílda, Mätïldä, Màtilda, Matìlda, Mátilda

• a separate given name4.3K records spelled Matilda2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Sweden

  Also written Mātīldā

• Indonesian given name3.0K records spelled Matilda2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Indonesia, Ghana, Sweden

  Also written Mãtildä

53 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Matilda is also recorded in 4 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, A female given name from the Germanic languages.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swedish, Matilda är en latiniserad form av det tyska Mechtild, sammansatt av fornhögtyskt ma(c)ht ’makt, kraft’ och → -hild. Namnet var bland de mest populära under decennierna runt millennieskiftet. I både den rikssvenska och finlandssvenska almanackan 14 mars, efter den tyska drottningen Mathilde (900-talet). Denna grundade ett nunnek loster i Quedlingburg, vilket ledde till att hon blev helgonförklarad.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In English, the mighty battle maiden

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In Latvian, Sievietes vārds

  as a word·Tēzaurs.lv (Dictionary and Thesaurus of Latvian, AiLab / LU MII)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Matilde di Canossab. 1046ITnot in their usual nameCanossian dynasty countess of Tuscany (c.1046–1115)
• Matildab. 1102GBHoly Roman Empress (1114–1125); claimant to the English throne
• Charlotte, Princess Royalb. 1766GBnot in their usual nameBritish princess (1766-1828); eldest daughter of George III
• Naima Wifstrandb. 1890SEnot in their usual nameSwedish actress (1890–1968)
• Matilde Mastrangib. 1953BRnot in their usual nameBrazilian actress
• Tilda Swintonb. 1960GBnot in their usual nameScottish-British actress
• Mathilda Mayb. 1965FRnot in their usual nameFrench actress
• Tuva Matilda Moa Karolina Hedströmb. 1979SESwedish actress
• Matilda De Angelisb. 1995ITItalian actress (born 1995)
• Princess Josephine of Denmarkb. 2011DKnot in their usual nameDanish princess, youngest child of Frederik X of Denmark and Queen Mary

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,186 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Matilda?

We estimate roughly 325 thousand people bear Matilda (counting its spellings and scripts) across 17 countries in our records.

In which country does Matilda have the most bearers?

We estimate about 146 thousand people bear Matilda in France, more than in any other country in our records.

Where is Matilda most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Matilda is densest in Finland — about 1 in 238 people — even though France holds more of our records for it.

How common is Matilda compared with other names?

In Sweden, Matilda is the 82nd most common given name of 36,824 given names recorded there.

Is Matilda a male or female name?

Matilda is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Matilda mean?

Recorded meaning: Germanic name meaning 'might, strife'; brought to Ireland via the Normans.