Mātariśvan is a mythical being of the Vedic religion, who brought the fire from afar, probably from heaven, to the men, i.e., to the first priests. After the Rigveda it has been taken as the personification of the wind. The paper discusses the etymology of the name mātaríśvan-. The connection with mātár- 'mother' is due to popular etymology, because this term in the dual referred to the two pieces of wood of firesticks used for churning fire. An alternative etymological of Vedic mātaríśvan- is proposed, based on the fact that he was conceived as a winged creature, comparable to the bird who brought the soma plant to the mortals in primeval times.