Mate
Mate is a Croatian given name, Matej is a variant of Matthew. Notable people with the name include:Mate Balota (1898–1963), Croatian poet, novelist and economist Mate Baturina, Croatian football striker Mate Bilić, Croatian football striker Mate Boban (1940−1997), Croatian politician Mate Božić, Croatian historian, writer and author Mate Brajković, Croatian football striker Mate Bulić, Croatian…
- Georgian
- Croatian
- Hungarian
Meaning & Origin of Mate
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Mate is a Croatian given name, Matej is a variant of Matthew. Notable people with the name include:Mate Balota (1898–1963), Croatian poet, novelist and economist Mate Baturina, Croatian football striker Mate Bilić, Croatian football striker Mate Boban (1940−1997), Croatian politician Mate Božić, Croatian historian, writer and author Mate Brajković, Croatian football striker Mate Bulić, Croatian…
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- Georgian
- Croatian
- Hungarian
The Story of Mate
Mate first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 1978, with 5 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 2016: 8 births, good for #8,814 nationwide. About 51% of every Mate on record arrived during the 2010s, its defining decade. Mate last appeared in the published SSA data in 2020, with 7 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 75 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1970s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Variants & Related Forms of Mate
Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Mate. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Names that sound like Mate
Phonetically similar names — useful when Mate is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Mate
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About the name Mate
Mate is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1978 and has accumulated 75 births in the dataset. Mate's peak popularity came in 2016 when it ranked #8,814. Use the chart and map above to compare Mate's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 2016 →
- Names of the 2010s →
- Names starting with "M" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.