Matthew McConaughey's Real Name: Matthew David McConaughey

Quick answer: Matthew McConaughey's full name is Matthew David McConaughey. He was born on November 4, 1969, in Uvalde, Texas, and works under Matthew McConaughey—the civil form of his birth name.

Real name and early life

Britannica and Library of Congress name authority identify Matthew David McConaughey, born November 4, 1969, in Uvalde, Texas (Britannica; LOC). McConaughey is the family surname; David is the middle name. He is the youngest of three sons of Mary Kathleen (née McCabe), a teacher and later author, and James Donald McConaughey, who ran an oil-pipe supply business. Raised in Longview, Texas, he enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin intending to study law, switched to film production, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1993 after already booking commercials and an early screen role.

Career highlights

His breakthrough was Wooderson in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused (1993). Lead status followed with A Time to Kill (1996), then Contact (1997), Amistad (1997), and U-571 (2000). A stretch of romantic comedies—The Wedding Planner, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Failure to Launch—made him a box-office brand before a deliberate turn toward heavier parts. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for AIDS activist Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club (2013), earned further acclaim in Mud (2012), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and HBO’s True Detective Season 1 (2014), and headlined Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014). Later credits include Gold (2016), The Gentlemen (2019), and continued producing work alongside University of Texas teaching and the memoir Greenlights (2020). He married model Camila Alves in 2012; they have three children. A “McConaissance” press label stuck to the awards-era reset from rom-coms to prestige drama. He has also been a visiting professor / creative at UT Austin’s film program. Across romantic and dramatic billing, the professional name stayed Matthew McConaughey; the documented full name is Matthew David McConaughey.

Name notes for searchers

Pronunciation guides often render the surname roughly “mə-KON-ə-hay.” Prefer Britannica and LOC over celebrity-site stubs. Middle name David appears in authority files even when marketing uses the two-name billing. Wikipedia is useful only as a pointer after primary citations.