The mountain derives its name from the German words Matte, meaning "meadow", and Horn, which means "peak".

The migration of the name "meadow" from the lower part of the countryside to the peak is common in the Alps. The Italian and French names (Cervino and Cervin) come from Mons Silvius (or Mons Sylvius) from the Latin word silva, meaning forest (with again the migration of the name from the lower part to the peak).

The changing of the first letter "s" to "c" is attributed to Horace Bénédict de Saussure, who thought that the word was related to a deer (French: cerf and Italian: cervo).