The Mather surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,621 people carried this name — #4,652 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 38,800 people counted. That is up 15% from 6,602 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Mather surname

A surname originating as an occupation for someone who mowed hay.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Mather» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

An early record he cites: Johannes Madyr, 1379 — Poll Tax, West Riding of Yorkshire.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 520 · public domain.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Mather was found among the farmers of 3 counties.

It was most frequent in Lancashire: 17 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 588. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Lancashire 17
Northumberland 14
Derbyshire 9

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland, 1880s

Mather was 10 in every 10,000 names in Scotland.

That is about 1 in 1,000. Its home there, in Guppy’s words: “Roxburghshire.” He counted the more than 20,000 names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, taking Scotland as a whole, and listed only the names that reached 10 in every 10,000.

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), appendix: alphabetical list of the most frequent Scottish names, p. 592 — public domain · names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, per 10,000 for the whole country.

In Scotland’s registers today

Mather was recorded 22 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1076th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 30. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

91 families named Mather, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 552 people lived in those households, 6.1 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 4 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Connecticut 41
Pennsylvania 16
New York 8
Vermont 7
New Hampshire 6
Massachusetts 4
Maryland 4
South Carolina 3
Maine 2

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 251 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Mather in American newspapers,
1874–1924.

Newspaper page from The Bozeman Courier carrying the name Mather
The Bozeman Courier 1924-08-06
Newspaper page from The Bolivar County Democrat carrying the name Mather
The Bolivar County Democrat 1922-06-03
Newspaper page from The New Orleans Bulletin carrying the name Mather
The New Orleans Bulletin 1874-04-25

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 5,671 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Mather in Australian newspapers,
1820s–1990s.

45,962 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Mather. The most, 6,432, date from the 1910s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Western Australia, at 2.2 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 12,038
Victoria 9,033
Western Australia 8,273
Tasmania 6,630
South Australia 5,812
Queensland 3,985
ACT (Canberra) 103
Northern Territory 45

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Mather.

Who carried it

People named Mather,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Richard Mather
    Richard Mather 1596–1669 · writer
  • Charles Chambers Mather d. 1962 · writer
  • Alexander Mather d. 1558 · politician
  • John B. Mather d. 1892
  • Mary Blanche Monica Cotter d. 1950
  • T. C. Mather d. 1908

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Mather,
in the records of 8 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States1,196 records

1,196 records of the Mather name in the United States
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 343
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 236
  • Other U.S. records 617
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Frank V. Mather

    Born 1920 in Nebraska. Enlisted 1942 at Boise, Idaho; farm hand from Washington County, Idaho. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1971, buried at Hillcrest Cemetery, Weiser, Idaho.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Alvin Eugene Mather

    Born 1933; from Topeka, Kansas. U.S. Air Force; killed in action 1970 in Phuoc Long, South Vietnam. Buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, Texas.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Jean Mather

    Arrived at New York in 1837 aboard the Bangor from Havre, aged 32; farmer. From Baden, Germany; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 1,196 records for Mather in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia1,422 records

1,422 records of the Mather name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 633
  • Tasmanian Names Index 411
  • Other Australian records 378
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Margaret Mather

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Frances Charlotte, sailing from Downs in 1832. Native of Kelso, Roxburghshire. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1841. Married 1841 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 28.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record John Mather

    Died 1865 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 48. Will registered in Tasmania in 1865.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Mary Mather

    Arrived in Victoria in 1853 aboard the Sophia Burbidge, aged 30; Scottish.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 1,422 records for Mather in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · City of Ballarat, Avenue of Honour Plaques (CC BY 3.0 AU). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Netherlands123 records

123 records of the Mather name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 80
  • Dutch population registers 36
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 7
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Fredrik Hendrik Mather

    Married in 1849 in Goor; weaver. Died 1855 in Goor, aged 47.

    Open Archives, Collectie Overijssel locatie Zwolle (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Anna Catharina Mather

    Born 1842 in Bergen op Zoom. Married in 1883 in Bergen op Zoom. Died 1895 in Breda.

    Open Archives, Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Arnoldina Maria Mather

    Born 1831 in Stad Almelo. Married in 1859 in Bergen op Zoom. Died 1909 in Bergen op Zoom, aged 78.

    Open Archives, Collectie Overijssel locatie Zwolle (CC BY 4.0); Open Archives, Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum (CC BY 4.0); Open Archives, West Brabants Archief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 123 records for Mather in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Canada86 records

86 records of the Mather name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 27
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 19
  • Other Canadian records 40
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Sarah Mather

    Came to Ontario in 1874 aboard the Nova Scotian, bound for Brace Bridge, Ontario; English.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record John Mather

    Buried in 1995 at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, aged 86.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Walter Mather

    Buried in 1970 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 86.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.

Showing 3 of 86 records for Mather in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

United Kingdom76 records

76 records of the Mather name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 44
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 16
  • Other British records 16
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record James Smith Mather

    Born 1867 at Inverkeilor. Served in the First World War. Named in the University of Aberdeen roll of service in the Great War, 1914-1919.

    National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record James Mather

    Buried in 1975 at St Thomas Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 72.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record William Mather

    Buried in 1820 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 60.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Showing 3 of 76 records for Mather in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

New Zealand42 records

42 records of the Mather name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 39
  • Waimakariri District cemetery records, Canterbury 2
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 1
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Mary Francis Mather

    Died 1952, aged 51; buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Sarah Mather

    Buried in 1919 at Shortland Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 65.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Bedilia Anne Mather

    Died 1963; buried at Oxford Cemetery, Canterbury.

    Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 42 records for Mather in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Germany8 records

8 records of the Mather name in Germany
  • Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919 7
  • German emigration and citizenship files 1
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Paul Mather

    From Berlin. Reported wounded in the Prussian casualty list of 22 April 1915 (Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 48).

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)
  2. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record Michael Mather

    Emigrated to North America in 1847.

    Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek / Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv (CC0)

Showing 2 of 8 records for Mather in Germany.

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0) · Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0); Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0).

France5 records

5 records of the Mather name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Roger Eugene Robert Mather

    Born 1923 in Poix-de-Picardie (Somme); died 1972 in Bédarieux (Hérault).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Francisque Joseph Mather

    Born 1899 in Priay (Ain); died 1983 in Saint-Julien-en-Genevois (Haute-Savoie).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 2 of 5 records for Mather in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Mather.

When the index is not enough

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A volume says what happened to it.

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