Mats

Gift of God, through its relationship to Matthias.

Mats is a masculine Scandinavian name, used in Sweden and Norway and also in Germany. It is usually explained as a short form of Matthias, carrying the inherited meaning “gift of God”. The short form has an identity of its own; it need not be a nickname for a longer everyday name. The family connection is a little broader than a single spelling suggests. In Swedish name history, forms such as Mats link the related names Mattias and Matteus. In Norwegian usage, the usual line runs through Mattis to Mathias. That explains why both the Matthias and Matthew families appear in accounts of Mats. In the Swedish pronunciation, the name fits into one syllable. Keep the a short and pronounce the t and s at the end; an English reading like the plural word “mats” is only an approximation. The gentle m followed by that clipped finish gives Mats a neat, lively quality. Its spare shape can feel contemporary while retaining a connection to a much longer name tradition.

Etymology: A Scandinavian short form of Matthias, with an ultimately Hebrew root. In Sweden, the histories of the related Mattias and Matteus forms overlap.