Matisse

Did you know?

A few things about Matisse you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Matisse

Matisse Thybulle

Australian-American basketball player

Choose Matisse and your child shares a first name with Matisse Thybulle, an Australian-American basketball player. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Matisse, like who?” Matisse Thybulle's Wikipedia article is available in 21 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Matisse Thybulle on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 106,383 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Matisse, 16 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Matisse would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryMatisse first shows up in US birth records in 1988, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 37 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 2021, when it reached #3,814.
• 📈Then vs nowMatisse is 3.8× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 400,000 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 106,383.
• 🚀TrendMatisse has climbed 372 places in the US rankings over the last five years and now sits at #5,608. Fast risers like this often keep climbing, so expect to hear it more.
• ⚖️Boy or girlMatisse is given to both boys and girls: 76% of the 21 babies named Matisse in 2025 were boys. That makes it one of the names that truly works for either.

About the name Matisse

Matisse is a gender-neutral name. It has 7 letters and 2 syllables, starting with M and ending in “-sse”. US birth records list Matisse for boys from 1994 to 2025, in 27 of those 32 years. Its best year was 2021, when it ranked #3,814 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #5,608, with 16 babies. Of the 21 US babies named Matisse in 2025, 24% were girls and 76% were boys.