Philbert
One favored as a protector of many people.
Name Census estimates that about 554 living Americans carry the first name Philbert. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Philbert today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Philbert births was 1955 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Philbert. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Philbert with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
554
~ 1 in 618,690 Americans
Peak year
1955
23 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2015 SSA rank
#13,535
Tracked since 1913
Census
Philbert in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 679 people with the first name Philbert, which placed it at #16,555 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
#16,555
National first-name rank
People counted
679
679 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
44.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Philbert
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Philbert is Black at 44.9%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (22.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.3%). 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 Philbert 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 Philbert at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American44.9% · 305
- American Indian and Alaska Native22.4% · 152
- Asian and Pacific Islander13.3% · 90
- White10.9% · 74
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 49
- Two or more races1.3% · 9
Popularity
Philbert: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Philbert from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 171 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Philbert 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 Philbert during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Philberts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New Mexico, Arizona, California recorded the most babies named Philbert, while California, Arizona, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Philbert
The given name Philbert has its roots in the Germanic languages, with its origins tracing back to the 8th century. It is a compound name derived from the Old Germanic words "phil" meaning "friend" and "berht" meaning "bright" or "illustrious." The name can be interpreted to mean "a bright friend" or "a friend of great splendor."
In its earliest form, the name was written as "Filiberti" in medieval Latin texts and records. It gained popularity during the Carolingian dynasty in the 8th and 9th centuries, particularly in the Frankish territories of modern-day France and Germany.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Philbert can be found in the Annals of Fulda, a medieval chronicle that mentions a nobleman named Philbert who served as a count in the court of Charlemagne in the late 8th century.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name was commonly associated with members of the clergy and religious orders. One notable figure was Saint Philbert (c. 616-684), a Frankish abbot and founder of the Benedictine monastery of Jumièges in Normandy, France.
In the 12th century, Philbert was the name of a prominent bishop of Toul, France, who played a significant role in the political and religious affairs of the region during his tenure from 1149 to 1168.
During the Renaissance period, the name Philbert gained further recognition through the Italian nobleman and poet Philbert de Vienne (1459-1512), who served as governor of Burgundy and was known for his literary works.
In the 19th century, the French novelist and playwright Philbert Audebrand (1838-1908) gained fame for his works, including the acclaimed novel "L'Illustre Gaudissart."
Another notable figure bearing the name Philbert was the French botanist and horticulturist Philbert Commerson (1727-1773), who made significant contributions to the study of plants during his expeditions to South America and the Indian Ocean.
While the name Philbert has its roots in the Germanic languages, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and regions throughout history, often associated with individuals of notable achievements and contributions to their respective fields.
People
Philbert + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Philbert as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Philbert: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Philbert?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 554 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Philbert 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 618,690 US residents.
Is Philbert a common name?
We classify Philbert as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 797 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Philbert most popular?
The single biggest year for Philbert was 1955, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Philbert is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Philbert in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 679 people with the name Philbert, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,555 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 Philbert 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 Philbert?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Philbert appears almost entirely male. Of the 679 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Philbert?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Philbert is Black at 44.9%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (22.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.3%). 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 Philbert most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Philbert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.9% (305 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 Philbert in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Philbert a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Philbert 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 Philbert still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Philbert 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 Philbert 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 have Philbert as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.