Erbey
A masculine Turkish name meaning "brave warrior" or "powerful soldier".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Erbey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Erbey today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Erbey births was 1982 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Erbey. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Erbey. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1982
5 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2001 SSA rank
#11,099
Tracked since 1982
Census
Erbey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 129 people with the first name Erbey, which placed it at #48,862 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
#48,862
National first-name rank
People counted
129
129 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
93.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Erbey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erbey is Hispanic at 93.8%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Erbey 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 Erbey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino93.8% · 121
- White3.9% · 5
- Black or African American1.6% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
Popularity
Erbey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Erbey from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Erbey 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 Erbey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Erbeys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Erbey
The given name Erbey has its origins traced back to the ancient Germanic tribes that inhabited parts of central and northern Europe during the early medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Old Germanic root word "erbjo," which means "heir" or "inheritor." This suggests that the name may have initially been bestowed upon the firstborn son or the designated heir within a family or clan.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Erbey can be found in the Frankish annals, which document the life and deeds of the Merovingian dynasty that ruled over a significant portion of modern-day France and Germany between the 5th and 8th centuries. In these chronicles, an influential nobleman named Erbey is mentioned as a trusted advisor to King Clovis I, who reigned from 481 to 511 AD.
During the Middle Ages, the name Erbey gained popularity among the nobility and aristocratic families across various Germanic regions, including the Holy Roman Empire and the Scandinavian kingdoms. It was often associated with individuals of noble birth and those who held positions of power or influence within their respective societies.
One notable figure bearing the name Erbey was a German knight and crusader who participated in the Third Crusade, led by Richard the Lionheart and Philip II of France, in the late 12th century. This Erbey was renowned for his bravery and military prowess during the siege of Acre in 1191, where he is said to have played a crucial role in the eventual capture of the city from Muslim forces.
In the 14th century, an Italian scholar and philosopher named Erbey di Siena gained recognition for his writings on natural philosophy and his contributions to the intellectual discourse of the time. His treatises on the nature of the universe and the principles of physics were widely studied and debated among the learned circles of Renaissance Italy.
Another figure of historical significance bearing the name Erbey was a Dutch explorer and navigator who accompanied the renowned explorer Willem Barentsz on his expeditions to the Arctic regions in the late 16th century. Erbey's detailed accounts and maps of these voyages played a pivotal role in advancing the understanding of the Arctic geography and navigation during that era.
While the name Erbey has its roots in the ancient Germanic cultures, it has been adopted and adapted by various other cultures and linguistic groups throughout history. However, its original meaning and association with inheritance, nobility, and leadership have remained consistent across different regions and time periods.
People
Erbey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Erbey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Erbey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Erbey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Erbey 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Erbey a common name?
We classify Erbey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Erbey most popular?
The single biggest year for Erbey was 1982, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Erbey is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Erbey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 129 people with the name Erbey, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,862 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 Erbey 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 Erbey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Erbey appears almost entirely male. Of the 134 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Erbey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erbey is Hispanic at 93.8%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Erbey most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Erbey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.8% (121 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 Erbey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Erbey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Erbey 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 Erbey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Erbey 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 Erbey 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 Erbey?
Find out how many Americans are named Erbey on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.