Explore the Family Name Matas

The meaning of Matas

1. Spanish: plural form of Mata 1. 2. Catalan: Castilianized form of Mates. 3. Croatian: from an old vernacular pet form of the personal names Matija (from Latin Matthias) or Matej (from Latin Matthaeus). 4. Czech: from a derivative of the personal names Matouš (from Latin Matthaeus; see Matous) or Matěj (from Latin Matthias; see Matej, compare below). 5. Slovak (Maťaš, also Maťas, Máťaš) and Czech (Maťaš): from the local vernacular equivalents of the Latin personal name Matthias (see Matthew, compare Matej) and their derivatives. 6. Lithuanian: from the personal name Matas, Lithuanian form of Latin Matthaeus (see Matthew). Some characteristic forenames: Spanish Jose, Raul, Adriana, Alina, Armando, Arturo, Carlos, Carlos Antonio, Domitilo, Fransisco, Guillermo, Humberto.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Matas in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Matas saw a rise in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In the year 2000, it was ranked 27,207th most popular, but by 2010, it had climbed to the 26,189th spot – an increase of 3.74 percent. The actual count of people with this surname also grew from 836 to 934 people during the same time period, marking an 11.72 percent increase. Consequently, the proportion of people named Matas per 100,000 individuals slightly rose from 0.31 to 0.32.

20002010Change
Rank#27,207#26,1893.74%
Count83693411.72%
Proportion per 100k0.310.323.23%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Matas

In terms of ethnicity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows some changes from 2000 to 2010. Individuals identifying as White who carry the surname Matas decreased from 55.98 percent to 52.36 percent. Meanwhile, those identifying as Hispanic increased from 34.45 percent to 40.04 percent. However, there were declines for those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander (from 5.38 to 4.71 percent) and Black (from 2.75 to 1.93 percent). It should be noted that data for those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native or as belonging to two or more races was suppressed for privacy, indicating no identifiable percentage for these ethnic identities in 2010.

20002010Change
White55.98%52.36%-6.47%
Hispanic34.45%40.04%16.23%
Asian/Pacific Islander5.38%4.71%-12.45%
Black2.75%1.93%-29.82%
Two or More Races0.84%0%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.6%0%0%