Mathias

Mathias is a German, French and Scandinavian form of Matthew, from the Hebrew “Mattathia” which means “Gift of God.” Matthew is borne from the Christian Bible as one of the four evangelists and the author of the first gospel of the New Testament (probably written in the 50s or 60s A.D.). Matthew’s gospel focuses on presenting Jesus as Israel’s messiah. It recognizes the teachings of the Hebrew Bible and demonstrates that the teachings of Jesus were consistent with the Jewish message. As with the Old Testament, the gospel of Matthew is peppered with prophesies and presents Jesus as a modern-day Moses. Matthew also tells us that Jesus is descended from Abraham through David (with 42 generations separating them). We are introduced to Matthew as a tax-collector-turned-Jesus-follower (Matthew 9:9); later Jesus named Matthew as one of his chosen 12 disciples, giving all of them “authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction” (Matthew 10:1). Names of the four evangelists and 12 disciples have become some of the most widespread, enduring and commonly used names ever in the history of Western culture: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Andrew, James, Philip, Thomas, Simon, Thaddeus/Jude and sometimes Bartholomew (but not so much Judas Iscariot for obvious reasons). As a result, we also find several variations of these names rendered in different languages. In the case of Matthew we get Matthew (English), Matthias (Biblical Greek/Latin), Mathieu (French), Matthäus (German), Makaio (Hawaiian), Matteo (Italian), and Mateo (Spanish). Mathias is used among the Scandinavians, the Germans and the French as evidenced by his popularity in these countries. Mathias is the 3rd most popular boys name in Norway and the 8th in Denmark (2011). It’s a top 50 favorite in Belgium and a Top 75 in France.