Erbie
A diminutive form of the Germanic name Herbert, meaning "bright army".
Name Census estimates that about 31 living Americans carry the first name Erbie. It is a predominantly male name (94.9% of registrations). The average person named Erbie today is around 85 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Erbie births was 1920 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Erbie. 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
- • The typical person named Erbie is about 85 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Erbies were born before 1951.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Erbie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
31
~ 1 in 11,056,592 Americans
Peak year
1920
15 babies that year
Average age
85
years old
1954 SSA rank
#3,995
Tracked since 1912
Census
Erbie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 119 people with the first name Erbie, which placed it at #50,492 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
#50,492
National first-name rank
People counted
119
119 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Erbie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erbie is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Black (15.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). 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 Erbie 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 Erbie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.5% · 97
- Black or African American15.1% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Erbie
Erbie leans heavily male at 94.9% of total registrations, but 10 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Erbie as a male name
- Ranked #3,995 in 1954
- 5 male births in 1954
- Peak: 1918 (13 births)
Erbie as a female name
- Ranked #5,218 in 1920
- 5 female births in 1920
- Peak: 1912 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Erbie leans strongly male. 105 people counted with this name were male (88.2%), compared with 14 female bearers (11.8%).
Popularity
Erbie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Erbie from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 80 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Erbie 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 Erbie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Erbies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Erbie
The name Erbie is a diminutive form of the Germanic name Erbert or Erbart, which is derived from the Old German words "era" meaning honor and "beraht" meaning bright. The name was popular among the Frankish tribes during the Early Middle Ages, particularly in the regions of modern-day Germany and France.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Erbie can be found in the Annales Regni Francorum, a historic chronicle documenting the reign of Charlemagne in the 8th century. The text mentions an "Erbius" who served as a court official under the Carolingian ruler.
In the 11th century, a Benedictine monk named Erbie of Reichenau (1010-1088) gained recognition for his contributions to the field of music theory and his compositions for the liturgy. He is considered one of the most influential figures in the development of medieval church music.
During the Crusades, an English nobleman named Erbie of Norwich (1135-1190) fought alongside Richard the Lionheart in the Third Crusade. He was knighted for his valor in the Battle of Acre and later became a prominent landowner in Norfolk.
In the 15th century, Erbie Zöllner (1452-1501) was a renowned German blacksmith and metalworker who crafted intricate suits of armor for the nobility. His works are now displayed in various museums across Europe, showcasing the exceptional skill of medieval artisans.
Another notable figure was Erbie Müller (1786-1834), a German painter and printmaker who is best known for his landscapes and portraiture. His works were highly acclaimed during his lifetime and are now part of the permanent collections of several art galleries in Germany.
These are just a few examples of individuals who bore the name Erbie throughout history, highlighting its Germanic roots and its usage across various regions and professions in the past.
People
Erbie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Erbie 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
Erbie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Erbie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 31 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Erbie 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 11,056,592 US residents.
Is Erbie a common name?
We classify Erbie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 47% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 198 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Erbie most popular?
The single biggest year for Erbie was 1920, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Erbie is about 85 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Erbie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 119 people with the name Erbie, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #50,492 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 Erbie 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 Erbie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Erbie leans strongly male. 105 people counted with this name were male (88.2%), compared with 14 female bearers (11.8%). 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 Erbie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erbie is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Black (15.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). 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 Erbie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Erbie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.5% (97 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 Erbie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Erbie a male name?
Yes, 94.9% of people registered as Erbie 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 Erbie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Erbie 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 Erbie 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 Erbie?
Find out how many people share the name Erbie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.