Mathilda
A Germanic name meaning "strength in battle". It stays rare in Poland: only around 130 women carry it, so most Poles have never met one.
Mathilda Pronunciation
What Mathilda means
Where Mathilda comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Mathilda comes from Germanic roots. Maht means might or strength. Hild means battle. Put together they give the short meaning that still stands: strength in battle.
The Scandinavian and English worlds carried the name furthest. Saint Matilda of Ringelheim, queen of East Francia and wife of Henry the Fowler, died in 968 and was venerated afterwards for her charity. In the twelfth century Empress Matilda fought her cousin Stephen for the English crown, a war she never fully won and her son finished as king. Roald Dahl handed the name to a small girl who outreads every cruel adult around her, in his 1988 novel.
In Poland the name settles as Matylda. The imieniny falls on 14 March. Read down a school register and it sits there plainly, Matylda, the old word for strength in battle still folded inside it.
How many people are named Mathilda
1 in 177510 women in Poland is named Mathilda. 127 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2963 among female names.
Mathilda's popularity over time
2 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #1704 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2024.
Where parents choose Mathilda
Mathilda is most popular in Masovian, 510% above the national average (2 girls born 2019–2025).
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Masovian
+510%1 in 177,133 babies
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Masovian+510% 2 born1 in 177,133 babies+510%
Mathilda as a middle name
Mathilda is a first name for 127 women in Poland and a middle name for another 29, an 81/19 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 1315th, between Macieja (29) and Milenia (29).
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#1313 Lesley29
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#1314 Macieja29
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#1315 Mathilda29
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#1316 Milenia29
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#1317 Miroslawa29