Matvei
A Russian form of Matthew, carrying the Hebrew sense "gift of God". It stays rare in Poland: only 233 men and boys hold it, and the handful of births logged each year has started slipping back.
Matvei Pronunciation
What Matvei means
Where Matvei comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Matvei is the Russian form of the name that Hebrew first shaped as Mattityahu, meaning "gift of God." The same root gave Poland its Mateusz and the wider world its Matthew. In Russian the ending drops and the middle softens, so Mattityahu turns into Matvei, said in three beats.
The Hebrew sense is direct. It reads as dar boga, gift of God, built from a word for giving joined to the name of God. A tax collector who became an evangelist carried an early version of it, and that link to the Gospel kept the name alive across Orthodox and Catholic lands.
In Poland the spelling Matvei marks a boy as Russian by heritage or by his parents' choice. On a school class register it sits a little apart from the Mateusz two rows down. Short. Legible. The two forms share one origin and one meaning, even where the letters diverge.
How many people are named Matvei
1 in 91615 men in Poland is named Matvei. 233 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2034 among male names.
Matvei's popularity over time
6 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #876 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2018.
Where parents choose Matvei
Matvei is most popular in Łódź, 253% above the national average (6 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Pomeranian (+203%) and Podlaskie (+127%). It is least common in Silesian and Lower Silesian, 35% and 5% below average respectively.
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Łódź
+253%1 in 21,120 babies
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Pomeranian
+203%1 in 24,554 babies
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Podlaskie
+127%1 in 32,893 babies
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Silesian
−35%1 in 113,792 babies
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Lower Silesian
−5%1 in 78,567 babies
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Łódź+253% 6 born1 in 21,120 babies+253%
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Pomeranian+203% 6 born1 in 24,554 babies+203%
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Podlaskie+127% 2 born1 in 32,893 babies+127%
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West Pomeranian+77% 2 born1 in 42,213 babies+77%
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Greater Poland+38% 4 born1 in 53,811 babies+38%
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Masovian+5% 5 born1 in 70,853 babies+5%
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Lower Silesian−5% 2 born1 in 78,567 babies−5%
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Silesian−35% 2 born1 in 113,792 babies−35%