Bolivar
A masculine name of Spanish origin meaning "he who follows trails".
Name Census estimates that about 221 living Americans carry the first name Bolivar. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bolivar today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bolivar births was 1988 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bolivar. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
221
~ 1 in 1,550,925 Americans
Peak year
1988
14 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,002
Tracked since 1920
Census
Bolivar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,429 people with the first name Bolivar, which placed it at #9,640 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,640
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,429 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
94.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bolivar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bolivar is Hispanic at 94.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Black (2.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bolivar described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bolivar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.7% · 1,353
- White2.7% · 39
- Black or African American2.0% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
- Two or more races0.1% · 1
Popularity
Bolivar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bolivar from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 58 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bolivar by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bolivar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bolivars live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bolivar
The name Bolivar has its origins in the Basque language, which is spoken in parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. It is believed to be derived from the Basque words "bolu" and "ibar," which together mean "valley of thunder" or "thunderous valley." The name likely emerged during the Middle Ages in the region now known as the Basque Country.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bolivar can be found in the 12th-century Codex Calixtinus, a medieval manuscript that served as a guide for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. The name is mentioned in connection with a place called "Vallis Bolivar," which is thought to refer to a valley in the Basque region.
In the late 15th century, a Spanish soldier and explorer named Simón de Bolívar is mentioned in historical records from the time of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. However, it is unclear if this individual was directly related to the more famous Simón Bolívar, who led the revolutions against Spanish rule in much of South America in the early 19th century.
The most renowned figure in history bearing the name Bolivar is undoubtedly Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), the Venezuelan military and political leader who played a pivotal role in the independence movements of several South American countries. He is revered as a hero and liberator in nations like Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, which was named in his honor.
Another notable individual with the name Bolivar was Bolivar Shagnasty (1852-1924), an American businessman and philanthropist from Philadelphia. He founded the Shagnasty Soap Company and donated a significant portion of his wealth to various charitable causes.
In the literary realm, Bolivar Arellano (1923-1995) was a prominent Ecuadorian poet and writer, known for his works that explored themes of identity, nature, and the indigenous cultures of South America.
The name Bolivar has also been associated with several members of the Spanish nobility over the centuries, including Don Bolivar de Mendoza (1632-1701), a Spanish diplomat and courtier during the reign of King Charles II.
While the name Bolivar may have ancient Basque roots, it gained widespread recognition and prominence throughout the Americas due to the legacy of Simón Bolívar, the iconic leader of South American independence movements in the early 19th century.
People
Bolivar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bolivar as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bolivar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bolivar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 221 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bolivar going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,550,925 US residents.
Is Bolivar a common name?
We classify Bolivar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 248 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bolivar most popular?
The single biggest year for Bolivar was 1988, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bolivar is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bolivar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,429 people with the name Bolivar, or 0.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,640 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bolivar in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bolivar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bolivar appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,440 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bolivar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bolivar is Hispanic at 94.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Black (2.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bolivar most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Bolivar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.7% (1,353 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bolivar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bolivar a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bolivar in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bolivar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bolivar in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bolivar can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Bolivar?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Bolivar at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.