Name Awesome

Mateja

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Mateja has been given to 96 babies in the U.S. since 1988. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 2004, with 13 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 70% girls, 30% boys all-time.

Babies named Mateja, 2008

1 in 562,000

Mateja over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Mateja over time

In 2018, Mateja went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19882018

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Mateja: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Mateja means

Mateja has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Mateja

A separate documented entry treats Mateja as a feminine form of Matej. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

A separate documented entry treats Mateja as a variant of Matija. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

Origin, language, and formation

Mateja is used in Slovene.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Slovene, Mateja is pronounced /matɛ́ːja/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 67 girls were recorded with the name Mateja between 1988 and 2008. Its highest annual count was 13 in 2004; its best national rank was #8,553 in 2004.

In the United States, 29 boys were recorded with the name Mateja between 2006 and 2018. Its highest annual count was 7 in 2006; its best national rank was #10,259 in 2006.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Mateja?

Mateja had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2008, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2008
1 in 562,000
7 of 3,930,727 births
Among girls only
1 in 270,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2008
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
389,226 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Mateja sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2008 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 389,226 children born in 2008 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Mateja. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Matejas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Mateja was born before 2005 — so the typical Mateja is around 20 today.

Median birth year
2005
About 20 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
80.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
100.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
67
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 80.6% of all recorded uses (54).

Is Mateja rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 2004 (13)
Years since peak
21
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
52.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#8,553
2004

Spellings of Mateja

Mateja is not the most common spelling — Makena is, with 19.5% against Mateja's 0.20%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Mateja around the world

Where Mateja ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2011–2025
    #4,867
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2005–2008
    #3,151
    in 2008
  • South Australia
    2005–2007
    #803
    in 2007

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Mateja by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#8,553
2004
Peak year
2004
13 that year
First recorded
1988
Last recorded
2008
All-time count
67
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#10,259
2006
Peak year
2006
7 that year
First recorded
2006
Last recorded
2018
All-time count
29
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Mateja

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

MattelMateoMathelMatikaMateyaMatlynMatiMatinaMatisseMattiaMatoyaMatheaMatayahMatsueMatianaMatracaMatisynMatriceMattoxMatyMatalinMateahMathewShreeja

Sibling names for Mateja

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Mateja

Top names of 2004, Mateja's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 2004Girls' names starting with MSlovenian Girl Names