Is Matthew the same apostle as Matthias?

No. Behind the Name records Matthias as a variant of the same name belonging to a separate apostle, and his feast sits on May 14, moved there in 1969 from February 24.

Is National Matthew Day a public holiday?

No. It is an unofficial observance with no proclamation or federal record behind it, so it is a normal working day.

Did the apostle Matthew write the Gospel of Matthew?

Scholarship treats it as an open question. Britannica records the Gospel as traditionally attributed to him, while stating that it is seriously doubted whether this Matthew is definitely the Synoptic author.

National Matthew Day

Next celebratedSunday, January 24, 2027

Matthew means gift of Yahweh, and the man who carried it collected taxes for Rome before ending up the patron saint of accountants. January 24 marks a name inherited from a rebel against foreign rule.

See how to celebrate

Countdown to the day

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Last updated September 6, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?

YEARLY DATEJanuary 24

OBSERVED INInternationally

CATEGORYNames

ORIGIN

Community Origin

FOUNDING ENTITY

Not documented

FIRST OBSERVED

Not documented

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

Documented by the people keeping it, not by a founder.

No founder or establishing record for National Matthew Day has been located. What is documented is the observance itself, marked on January 24 by news accounts in the United States and the United Kingdom.

+ Know the story? Submit a founder Help us complete this holiday

INTRO

A revolt leader's name at the customs house

The name that National Matthew Day celebrates carries an irony that scholars name directly. Matthew descends from the Hebrew name of Mattathias, the priest who began a revolt against foreign rule over the Jewish people. The gospels then give that name to a man sitting at a customs house in Capernaum.

Bible Odyssey states the point and hedges it in the same breath. If the apostle is the Levi of Mark and Luke, the argument runs, then he would have been collaborating with the oppressive, polytheistic Roman Empire. Britannica puts it more narrowly, placing him in the service of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee.

The observance is much younger, and much thinner. Matt Barcaro of WGAL News 8 wished every Matthew well and told followers the day arrives "for some unknown reason". A Herefordshire news page kept it the following January.

ORIGINS

Matthew Day history

INTRODUCTION

Behind the Name traces Matthew back to two pieces of ancient Hebrew. One is the word mattat, meaning gift. The other is yah, which refers to the Hebrew God.

Put together they make Mattithiah, gift of Yahweh. A few minor figures in the Old Testament carry it. In the New Testament it appears in Greek as Matthaios, and that is the form English eventually inherited.

CHAPTER 01

The trade the name landed in

The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary describes a trade built on contracts. Under Roman rule those contracts were farmed out, usually to wealthy foreigners, who then hired local inhabitants to do the collecting.

The collectors owed the government the revenue they had promised. Anything above it they were generally free to take as profit. Almost all Greco-Roman literature portrays them negatively.

CHAPTER 02

A book that arrived after the fact

Britannica puts the Gospel According to Matthew in Greek, probably sometime after 70 CE. It finds evident dependence on the earlier Gospel of Mark. The traditional case for the apostle's hand rests on a line from Papias, preserved by Eusebius: "So then Matthew composed the Oracles in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as he could."

CHAPTER 03

The name crosses into English

Behind the Name records Matthew in use as an English given name since the Middle Ages. It became popular across the English-speaking world around the middle of the twentieth century.

CHAPTER 04

Where the day itself comes from

The observance has no such trail. No founder, establishing act, or first-observance record for the day has been located, and a search of the United States Federal Register returns nothing under the name. GovInfo, the corpus of United States government publications, returns nothing either.

What the day has instead of a record is people who keep it.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love National Matthew Day

EVIDENCE

The evidence, and its interpretation, is divided.

Bible Odyssey states that the Gospels are anonymous and that the early church, rather than the writers, assigned the titles. Samuel Lamerson, professor of New Testament at Knox Seminary, concludes that the evidence and its interpretation are divided.

OCCUPATION

The contempt is recorded, the reason is not

Bible Odyssey reports that tax collectors were widely unpopular in Roman Palestine, and that no ancient source explains exactly why. Scholars offer two hedged possibilities, that collectors were assumed to cheat and that they were seen as moving resources to Rome.

PATRONAGE

The job followed him into the calendar

Britannica lists Matthew as a patron saint of tax collectors and accountants, with an angel as his symbol. Bible Odyssey adds that besides Judas the betrayer, he is the only member of the twelve linked with sinners through his occupation.

TIMELINE

Timeline

The Gospel is written in Greek

Britannica dates the composition to probably sometime after 70 CE, and to Greek rather than Hebrew.

A name attaches to the book

Bible Odyssey records that in the second century the Apostle Matthew was identified with the Evangelist Matthew.

Relics surface at Salerno

Britannica reports that Matthew's relics were reputedly discovered in Salerno, Italy.

Rome moves Matthias off February

EWTN records that the feast of Saint Matthias, a separate apostle carrying a form of the same name, moved from February 24 to May 14 so it would fall outside Lent.

A broadcaster marks the day

Matt Barcaro of WGAL News 8 posted a greeting to all the Matthews and noted the date holds 'for some unknown reason'.

The day turns up in England

Your Herefordshire, a UK local news page, marked the day the following year, putting the observance on both sides of the Atlantic.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Matthew Day by the Numbers

1,638,971: US boys named Matthew, 1926-2025
13th: Rank among US boys' names, 1926-2025
3rd: Rank among US boys' names, 1980s
4th: Rank among US boys' names, 2000s
16th: Rank among US boys' names, 2010s

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate National Matthew Day

Text every Matthew, Matt, Matty and Mattie you know

Behind the Name lists Mat, Matt, Mattie and Matty as the English short forms of the name. Pick whichever one the Matthew in your life actually answers to.

READ

Read the calling scene for yourself

Britannica points to Matthew 9:9 and Mark 2:14 as the verses where Jesus calls him. Bible Odyssey is a good place to read what scholars make of the passage.

LOOK

Look up where the name ranks now

The Social Security Administration publishes the most popular American given names by decade and across the last hundred years. Find the decade the Matthew in your life was born in and see where the name sat.

THANK

Thank an accountant or a tax preparer

The trade the apostle left is the trade he was later given charge of as a patron saint. Anyone who has ever filed on someone else's behalf has earned a message on the day.

WATCH

Watch a Matthew do the thing he is known for

Behind the Name's notable bearers include the actors Matthew Broderick, Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Perry. The list also runs back to Matthew C. Perry, the American naval officer who led an expedition to Japan.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know National Matthew Day?

1 / 8

What does the Hebrew name behind Matthew mean?

Answer

No. This observance falls on January 24, while Britannica gives September 21 as the Western feast of St. Matthew and November 16 as the Eastern feast.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

17sources

8primary records

7independently dated

Primary records

US Social Security Administration

Top Names Over the Last 100 Years

The 100 most common American given names for births from 1926 to 2025.