Matheus is a form of Matthew, from Hebrew Mattityahu, meaning "gift of God," filtered through Latin tradition.
Matheus is the Portuguese and older Scandinavian form of Matthew, carrying the full weight of one of the most consequential names in Western history. The original Hebrew is Mattityahu — "gift of Yahweh" or "gift of God" — a compound of mattan (gift) and the divine name. In the New Testament, Matthew was a tax collector called by Jesus to be one of the twelve apostles, and the Gospel of Matthew — the first gospel in the canonical New Testament — became the most-cited text in early Christian teaching.
The name spread wherever Christianity traveled, taking on local phonetic clothing as it went. In the Portuguese-speaking world, Matheus has been a living, breathing given name for centuries, thoroughly woven into Brazilian and Portuguese culture. Brazil's particular embrace of Matheus reflects the country's deep Catholic heritage and its fondness for names that sound classical yet warm.
The name shares space in that tradition with Matias, Thiago, and other Iberian variants of biblical originals. In Scandinavia, the older Matheus form eventually yielded to Mattias and Mathias, but the longer form persisted in ecclesiastical records and family traditions. In the English-speaking world, Matheus appeals to parents seeking an international, slightly formal alternative to Matthew — it carries the same core meaning and recognizability while projecting a cosmopolitan, literary character. It sits naturally beside names like Elias, Tobias, and Lucas, all ancient names with the slightly elevated quality that the "-us" ending conveys.