This study seeks to offer a comparative analysis of the History of Mathematics (HoM) elements identified in the secondary school mathematics textbooks of different countries. Drawing on document analysis method, this study analyzes the secondary school mathematics textbooks of Turkey, Singapore, Ireland and Canada. The HoM elements in the textbooks are examined in terms of famous mathematicians they present, civilization they are related to, content type, associated learning area and whereabouts they are inserted in the text. This study concludes that the textbooks of Ireland present the highest number of HoM elements quantitatively, and Ireland is followed by Turkey, Singapore and Canada, respectively. The most mentioned mathematicians in the HoM elements are Al-Khwarizmi and Pythagoras; further, the most mentioned civilization is Ancient Egypt. Further, Singapore and Canada prioritize discussion-project whereas Ireland and Turkey focus on history of concepts. Moreover, Turkey, Ireland and Canada present the highest number of HoM elements in the learning area of geometry and measurement. Singapore has the highest number of HoM elements in the area of numbers and operations. This study reveals that the countries do not sufficiently incorporate HoM into their textbooks. The countries with relatively higher number of HoM elements like Ireland use HoM for motivational purposes, rather than for teaching purposes.