Matthieu
The French form of a Hebrew name that means "gift of god". In Poland it stays rare: about 140 men carry it, and most Poles have never met one.
Matthieu Pronunciation
What Matthieu means
Where Matthieu comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Matthieu is the French form of Matthew, and its root reaches back to Hebrew. The original was Mattityahu, built from a word for gift joined to a shortened name for God. The meaning came down plainly as gift of God.
The name traveled west with the Gospels. Matthew the evangelist, a tax collector before he followed Christ, became Matthieu in French, and France held onto the spelling for centuries. His feast falls on 21 September, so the name sits near the turn of autumn.
French public life has carried it forward. Matthieu Ricard, the Buddhist monk and author, is one bearer. The form stays stubbornly French, with its double t and the soft -ieu ending that keeps it apart from the English Matthew.
Picture a Polish class register. A boy listed as Matthieu rather than Mateusz signals a French choice over a Polish one. The Hebrew meaning holds underneath either way: dar boga, gift of God.
How many people are named Matthieu
1 in 150325 men in Poland is named Matthieu. 142 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2751 among male names.
Matthieu's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 boys were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.
Matthieu as a middle name
Matthieu is a first name for 142 men in Poland and a middle name for another 29, an 83/17 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 1564th, between Kondrat (29) and Matthäus (29).
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#1562 Ketut29
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#1563 Kondrat29
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#1564 Matthieu29
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#1565 Matthäus29
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#1566 Mehmed29