Matilda
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Matilda
Matilda is a sweet vintage name that has been gently climbing the popularity list for the past 15 years, after a half-century slumber. The spunky children's book heroine Matilda is one factor in its rise, along with others of its class like Eloise and Caspian.
The comeback of Matilda, one of the most stylish girls' names starting with M, has been prompted by a boomlet of starbaby Matildas, beginning with chef Gordon Ramsey's in 2002 and Moon Unit Zappa's two years later. But the renaissance of this name of the charming Roald Dahl heroine was assured when Michelle Williams and the late Heath Ledger chose Matilda for their daughter.
Matilda was introduced to the English-speaking world by the eleventh century Matilda of Flanders, queen of William the Conqueror, then used for his granddaughter, known as Maud. In literature, Matilda appeared in Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby. Trivia tidbit: The Matilda in the Australian song 'Waltzing Matilda' refers not to a person but to the knapsacks that swing, or waltz, on the backs of itinerant laborers as they walk along.
Highly popular in England and Australia, Matilda has a choice of great nicknames: Tillie for the bold, Mattie for the shy, Tilda for the slightly more eccentric, such as Tilda Swinton, born Katherine Matilda.
Molly Ringwald used the spelling Mathilda for her daughter.
Matilda is also given to boys.
Pronounced muh-TIL-duh.
As of October 2026, Matilda ranked #365 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #101 in 1880, Nameberry popularity #61.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #582 | 523 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #536 | 583 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #496 | 631 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #522 | 599 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #489 | 643 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #448 | 696 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #478 | 639 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #465 | 673 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #417 | 758 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #438 | 708 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #410 | 769 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #365 | 838 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Matilda.
Matilda on lists
Famous Matildas
- Saint Matilda of RingelheimGirl
Queen consort of Henry the Fowler of Germany
- Matilda of FlandersGirl
Queen consort of William the Conqueror
- Matilda of ScotlandGirl
Queen consort of Henry I of England
- MatildaGirl
Holy Roman Empress consort of Henry V; daughter of Henry I and Matilda of Scotland; claimant to the English throne
- Matilda of BoulogneGirl
Queen consort of Stephen of England
- Matilda of SavoyGirl
Queen consort of Afonso Henriques of Portugal
- Matilda of HolsteinGirl
Queen consort of Abel of Denmark
- Matilda of EnglandGirl
Duchess of Saxony and of Bavaria; daughter of Henry II
- Matilda of TuscanyGirl
Italian feudal ruler and military leader
- Matilda FitzRoyGirl
several illegitimate daughters of Henry I of England
- Matilda Electa Joslyn GageGirl
American suffragist
- Matilda Anna Ingrid LutzGirl
Italian model and actress
- Matilda Anne MackarnessGirl
English novelist
- Matilda Agnes HeronGirl
American stage actress
- Mary Matilda BethamGirl
English diarist and painter
- Matilda Sissieretta Joyner JonesGirl
American operatic soprano
- Matilda SturridgeGirl
English actress; sister of actor Tom Sturridge
- Matilda MeciniGirl
Miss Albania 2008
- Matilda Coxe StevensonGirl
American ethnologist and author
- Matilda Moldenhauer BrooksGirl
American biologist who studied carbon monoxide
- Matilda LowtherGirl
British model
- Matilda "Tilly" KeeperGirl
English actress
- Matilda Mary "Tilly" DevineGirl
English,Australian gangster and folk figure
- Matilda Emily "Tilly" BagshaweGirl
English novelist
- Matilda ShaplandGirl
English actress
- Katherine Matilda "Tilda" SwintonGirl
Anglo,Scottish actress
- Matilda BrownGirl
Australian actress; daughter of actress Rachel Ward
- Matilda Kerwin (b. 1993)Girl
daughter of actor Brian Kerwin
- Matilda Violet Roche (b. 1998)Girl
daughter of actress Nell Campbell and Eamonn Roche
- Matilda "Tilly" Ramsay (b. 2001)Girl
daughter of TV chef Gordon Ramsay
- Matilda Cole (b. 2002)Girl
daughter of actress Kate Isitt and director Nigel Cole
- Matilda Louise Henricks (b. 2002)Girl
daughter of singer Zia McCabe of The Dandy Warhols and Travis Henricks
- Matilda Rose Ledger (b. 2005)Girl
daughter of actors Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams
- Matilda Martha Thykier (b. 2006)Girl
daughter of TV presenter Claudia Winkleman and Kris Thykier
- Matilda ClutterbuckGirl
daughter of actor Andrew Lincoln
- Matilda Lily Nora Darling (b. 2008)Girl
daughter of actress Kaye Wragg and Jamie Darling
- Matilda Kewell (b. 2008)Girl
daughter of actress Sheree Murphy and footballer Harry Kewell
- Matilda Bethany Sidwell (b. 2009)Girl
daughter of actor Aaron Sidwell
- Matilda Belle Pegg (b. 2009)Girl
daughter of actor Simon Pegg
- Matilda Francis (b. 2009)Girl
daughter of actor/comedian Leigh Francis
- Matilda Beau Albrighton (b. 2012)Girl
daughter of footballer Marc Albrighton
- Matilda Smith (b. 2013)Girl
daughter of rugby player Cameron Smith
- Matilda Vettel (b. 2015)Girl
daughter of racing driver Sebastian Vettel
- Matilda Jessica Sinclair (b. 2015)Girl
daughter of actress Helen Flanagan and footballer Scott Sinclair
- Matilda Joanne Adams (b. 2016)Girl
daughter of TV presenter Amelia Adams
- Matilda (b. 2018)Girl
daughter of supermodel David Gandy
Matilda in pop culture
- Matilda WormwoodGirl
main character in Roald Dahl's "Matilda"
- MatildaGirl
a house robot on TV's "Robot Wars"
- Matilda SantiagoGirl
character in movie "Elysium"
- Matilda Harriet Jane "Mattie" HunterGirl
character on Australian soap "Home and Away"
- Matilda "Tilda" Price BrowdieGirl
character in Dickens' "Nicholas Nickleby"
- MatildaGirl
character in "A Waltz for Matilda" by Jackie French
- Matilda "Mattie" CookGirl
character in Laurie Halse Anderson's "Fever 1793""
- MatildaGirl
character in British comic strip "Dennis & Gnasher"
- Matilda Angelina Araminta PhelpsGirl
Tom Sawyer's baby cousin in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- Matilda "Miss Matty" JenkysGirl
character on TV's Cranford
- MatildaGirl
a character in Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto"
- Matilda "Mattie" AshbyGirl
character on American soap "The Young and the Restless"
- Matilda "Tillie" BinksGirl
character in film "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
- Matilda "Matty" WebberGirl
character on TV's "MacGyver"
- The MatildasGirl
Australian Women's National Football (Soccer) Team
- "MatildaGirl
" 1978 comedy about a boxing kangaroo
- "MatildaGirl
" song by Harry Belafonte
- "MatildaGirl
" song by British band Alt,J
- "MatildaGirl
" song by British band Little Comets
- "Waltzing MatildaGirl
" Australian popular song
- Matilda McDuckGirl
aunt of Donald Duck