Fillmore
Derived from the Old English words "fill" and "mor," meaning "abundant land."
Name Census estimates that about 41 living Americans carry the first name Fillmore. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fillmore today is around 85 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fillmore births was 1915 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fillmore. 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 Fillmore is about 85 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Fillmores were born before 1951.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Fillmore. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
41
~ 1 in 8,359,862 Americans
Peak year
1915
19 babies that year
Average age
85
years old
1951 SSA rank
#3,477
Tracked since 1895
Census
Fillmore in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 116 people with the first name Fillmore, which placed it at #51,012 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
#51,012
National first-name rank
People counted
116
116 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fillmore
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fillmore is White at 45.7%. The next largest groups are Black (27.6%) and Hispanic (8.6%). 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 Fillmore 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 Fillmore at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.7% · 53
- Black or African American27.6% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino8.6% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.6% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native6.9% · 8
- Two or more races2.6% · 3
Popularity
Fillmore: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fillmore from the 1890s through to the 1950s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 70 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fillmore 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 Fillmore during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fillmore
The name Fillmore is believed to have originated from the Old English words "fill" and "mor," which together meant "fertile soil" or "plentiful land." This suggests that the name likely has roots in the agricultural communities of Anglo-Saxon England, where the name would have been associated with prosperity and abundance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fillmore can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Fillemor," referring to a landowner or tenant in the county of Norfolk.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Fillmore remained relatively uncommon, but it continued to be used primarily in rural areas of England. It was not until the 17th century that the name gained more widespread recognition, particularly among Puritan communities in New England, where it was sometimes spelled as "Philmore" or "Filmore."
One notable bearer of the name Fillmore was Millard Fillmore, the 13th President of the United States, who was born in 1800 in Cayuga County, New York. He served as President from 1850 to 1853 after the death of President Zachary Taylor.
Another famous Fillmore was John Fillmore Hayford, an American civil engineer and surveyor who was born in 1868. He is best known for his work in determining the exact shape of the Earth, which led to the development of the Hayford Ellipsoid, a mathematical model used in geodesy and cartography.
In the realm of literature, Fillmore Cyrusfield Fitch was an American author and editor who lived from 1838 to 1909. He is known for his contributions to the development of the dime novel genre, which was popular in the late 19th century.
Another noteworthy figure with the name Fillmore was Fillmore Musser, an American businessman and philanthropist who lived from 1854 to 1929. He was a prominent figure in the development of the city of Los Angeles and was instrumental in the establishment of several educational institutions, including the University of Southern California.
Lastly, Fillmore Leib was an American football player and coach who lived from 1900 to 1966. He played quarterback for several teams in the early years of professional football and later became a successful coach, leading the Chicago Cardinals to the NFL championship in 1947.
People
Fillmore + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fillmore as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fillmore: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fillmore?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 41 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fillmore 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 8,359,862 US residents.
Is Fillmore a common name?
We classify Fillmore as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 239 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fillmore most popular?
The single biggest year for Fillmore was 1915, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fillmore 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 Fillmore in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 116 people with the name Fillmore, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,012 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 Fillmore 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 Fillmore?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fillmore leans strongly male. 113 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 2 female bearers (1.7%). 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 Fillmore?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fillmore is White at 45.7%. The next largest groups are Black (27.6%) and Hispanic (8.6%). 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 Fillmore most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fillmore in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.7% (53 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 Fillmore in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fillmore a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fillmore 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 Fillmore still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fillmore 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 Fillmore 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 share the name Fillmore?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.