Thelbert
Composed of Germanic elements meaning "noble" and "bright".
Name Census estimates that about 271 living Americans carry the first name Thelbert. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Thelbert today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thelbert births was 1921 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thelbert. 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 Thelbert is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Thelberts were born before 1961.
People living today
271
~ 1 in 1,264,776 Americans
Peak year
1921
32 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
1985 SSA rank
#7,490
Tracked since 1908
Popularity
Thelbert: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thelbert from the 1900s through to the 1980s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 230 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
Thelbert 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 Thelbert during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Thelberts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. North Carolina, Texas, Virginia recorded the most babies named Thelbert, while Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Thelbert
The name Thelbert originates from the Old English language, a Germanic language spoken in parts of what is now England and southeastern Scotland from the 5th to the 11th centuries. It is a combination of the elements "þegl" meaning "servant" or "thane," and "beorht" meaning "bright" or "brilliant." Therefore, the name Thelbert can be interpreted as "brilliant servant" or "servant of brilliance."
This name was particularly popular among the Anglo-Saxons during the medieval period. It was borne by several notable historical figures, including Saint Thelbert, a 7th-century Bishop of Le Mans in France, and Thelbert, a 9th-century Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire, England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Thelbert can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the Great Survey of England compiled in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book mentions several individuals with the name Thelbert, including landowners and tenants.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Thelbert. One such person was Thelbert, a Benedictine monk who lived in the 11th century and served as the Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, England. Another was Thelbert of Cerne, a 9th-century Benedictine monk and scholar from Cerne Abbey in Dorset, England, known for his contributions to the study of astronomy and mathematics.
In the 12th century, there was Thelbert of Ferrières, a French Benedictine monk and scholar who served as the Abbot of Ferrières Abbey in Normandy. He was known for his writings on theology and philosophy, and his commentary on the Book of Revelation.
Another notable figure was Thelbert of Malmesbury, a 12th-century English Benedictine monk and historian from Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire. He is best known for his historical work, the Gesta Regum Anglorum (Deeds of the English Kings), which chronicled the reigns of English monarchs from the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain to the early 12th century.
While the name Thelbert was once relatively common in England and parts of Europe during the medieval period, it has become quite rare in modern times. However, it remains a unique and historically significant name that reflects the rich linguistic and cultural heritage of the Anglo-Saxon world.
People
Thelbert + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thelbert as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Thelbert: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thelbert?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 271 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thelbert 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 1,264,776 US residents.
Is Thelbert a common name?
We classify Thelbert as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 931 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thelbert most popular?
The single biggest year for Thelbert was 1921, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thelbert is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Thelbert a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thelbert 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.
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.