Wilberth
Resolute, bright protector; a name derived from Germanic elements.
Name Census estimates that about 84 living Americans carry the first name Wilberth. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wilberth today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wilberth births was 2001 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wilberth. 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 Wilberth. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
84
~ 1 in 4,080,409 Americans
Peak year
2001
7 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,214
Tracked since 1995
Popularity
Wilberth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wilberth from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 42 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wilberth 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 Wilberth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wilberths live
Origin
Meaning and history of Wilberth
The name Wilberth is derived from the Old German language and can be traced back to the 8th century. It is composed of two elements: "wil," meaning "desire" or "will," and "berht," meaning "bright" or "illustrious." The name's origin is rooted in the Germanic tribes that inhabited central and northern Europe during the Early Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Wilberth can be found in the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram, a 9th-century illuminated manuscript from the Benedictine abbey of St. Emmeram in Regensburg, Germany. This codex contains a list of noblemen and clergymen, including a certain Wilberth, who was likely a nobleman or a cleric at that time.
During the High Middle Ages, the name Wilberth gained popularity among the nobility and ruling classes in various parts of Europe. One notable figure was Wilberth of Normandy (c. 1020-1087), a Norman nobleman who participated in the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and later became the Earl of Hereford.
In the 12th century, Wilberth of Auxerre (c. 1090-1155) was a renowned French theologian and philosopher who taught at the University of Paris. He made significant contributions to the development of scholastic philosophy and is considered one of the founders of the scholastic method.
Another historical figure bearing the name Wilberth was Wilberth of Oldenburg (c. 1255-1311), a German count and nobleman who played a crucial role in the conflict between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Denmark over control of the Duchy of Holstein.
In the 15th century, Wilberth Tübeck (c. 1430-1498) was a German painter and woodcarver from Nuremberg. He was renowned for his altarpieces and religious sculptures, which adorned many churches and cathedrals throughout southern Germany and Austria.
While the name Wilberth has its roots in the Germanic languages, it has also been adopted and adapted in various other cultures and linguistic traditions over the centuries, reflecting the influence and spread of different peoples and civilizations across Europe and beyond.
People
Wilberth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wilberth as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Wilberth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wilberth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 84 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wilberth 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 4,080,409 US residents.
Is Wilberth a common name?
We classify Wilberth as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 85 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wilberth most popular?
The single biggest year for Wilberth was 2001, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wilberth is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Wilberth a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wilberth 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.