Wilburn
A masculine name derived from the Old English elements "wil" meaning "desire" and "burn" meaning "stream."
Name Census estimates that about 2,861 living Americans carry the first name Wilburn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wilburn today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wilburn births was 1926 (317 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wilburn. 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 Wilburn is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Wilburns were born before 1964.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 119,802 Americans
Peak year
1926
317 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
2022 SSA rank
#4,954
Tracked since 1880
Census
Wilburn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,781 people with the first name Wilburn, which placed it at #5,926 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
#5,926
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,781 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wilburn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilburn is White at 83.8%. The next largest groups are Black (10.9%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Wilburn 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 Wilburn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.8% · 2,330
- Black or African American10.9% · 303
- Two or more races2.6% · 71
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 17
Gender
Gender distribution for Wilburn
Out of the 10,339 babies given the name Wilburn since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Wilburn as a male name
- Ranked #14,215 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 1926 (317 births)
Wilburn as a female name
- Ranked #4,954 in 1934
- 5 female births in 1934
- Peak: 1918 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wilburn appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,790 people counted with this name, 99.0% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Wilburn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wilburn from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,761 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
Wilburn 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 Wilburn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wilburns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Wilburn, while Ohio, California, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 404 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wilburn
The name Wilburn has its roots in the English language, originating from a combination of two Old English words: "wil" meaning "will" or "desire," and "burn" meaning "stream" or "brook." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone living near a desired or desirable stream or brook.
The earliest known record of the name Wilburn dates back to the late 11th century, shortly after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The name appeared in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086.
During the Middle Ages, the name Wilburn was predominantly found in various regions of England, particularly in the northern counties. It was relatively common among rural communities, where the presence of streams and brooks was an essential part of daily life.
One of the earliest notable individuals to bear the name Wilburn was Sir Wilburn de Morley, a prominent English landowner and knight who lived during the reign of King Henry III in the 13th century. He played a significant role in the baronial rebellion against the king, which ultimately led to the establishment of the first English parliament.
Another historical figure named Wilburn was Wilburn Woodward, a renowned English architect who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was responsible for designing several notable buildings, including the Charterhouse in London and the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
In the realm of literature, Wilburn Caledon was an English poet and playwright who lived during the Elizabethan era. His works, though not widely known today, were celebrated in his time for their lyrical beauty and sharp social commentary.
Wilburn Smithers, an English explorer and adventurer, gained fame in the 18th century for his daring expeditions to the Arctic regions. His detailed accounts of the harsh conditions and indigenous peoples he encountered became influential works in the field of anthropology.
Lastly, Wilburn Ainsworth, a British industrialist and philanthropist, made significant contributions to the development of the textile industry in the 19th century. He was also known for his generous support of various charitable causes, particularly those aimed at improving the living conditions of factory workers.
While the name Wilburn may not be as common today as it once was, its rich history and deep roots in the English language serve as a testament to its enduring presence throughout the centuries.
People
Wilburn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wilburn 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
Wilburn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wilburn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,861 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wilburn 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 119,802 US residents.
Is Wilburn a common name?
We classify Wilburn as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,339 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wilburn most popular?
The single biggest year for Wilburn was 1926, when 317 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wilburn is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wilburn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,781 people with the name Wilburn, or 0.92 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,926 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 Wilburn 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 Wilburn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wilburn appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,790 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Wilburn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilburn is White at 83.8%. The next largest groups are Black (10.9%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Wilburn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wilburn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.8% (2,330 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 Wilburn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wilburn a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Wilburn 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 Wilburn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wilburn 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 Wilburn 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 Wilburn?
You can see how many Americans are named Wilburn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.