Wilhelmena
A feminine form of the Germanic name Wilhelm, meaning "resolute protector".
Name Census estimates that about 161 living Americans carry the first name Wilhelmena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Wilhelmena today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wilhelmena births was 1919 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wilhelmena. 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 Wilhelmena is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Wilhelmenas were born before 1957.
People living today
161
~ 1 in 2,128,909 Americans
Peak year
1919
26 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1963 SSA rank
#6,572
Tracked since 1896
Census
Wilhelmena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 197 people with the first name Wilhelmena, which placed it at #38,754 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
#38,754
National first-name rank
People counted
197
197 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
81.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wilhelmena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilhelmena is Black at 81.2%. The next largest groups are White (15.7%) and Hispanic (1.0%). 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 Wilhelmena 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 Wilhelmena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American81.2% · 160
- White15.7% · 31
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
- Two or more races1.0% · 2
Popularity
Wilhelmena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wilhelmena from the 1890s through to the 1960s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 194 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
Wilhelmena 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 Wilhelmena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wilhelmenas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. South Carolina, Georgia, Florida recorded the most babies named Wilhelmena, while Florida, Georgia, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 110 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wilhelmena
Wilhelmena is a feminine given name of Germanic origin, derived from the Old High German name Willahelm, which means "will" and "helmet." The name was first recorded in the 8th century AD and was popular among the nobility and royalty of various Germanic tribes and kingdoms.
The name Wilhelmena gained particular prominence during the Middle Ages, especially in the Netherlands and parts of Germany. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was in the 12th century, when it was borne by Wilhelmena of Tuscany, a noblewoman and the wife of Duke Godfrey III of Brabant.
In the 16th century, Wilhelmena became a popular name among the Dutch ruling class. The most notable bearer of the name was Wilhelmena of Prussia (1751-1820), the first Queen of the Netherlands. She reigned from 1814 to 1840 and played a significant role in shaping the modern Dutch state.
Another notable Wilhelmena was Wilhelmena, Princess of the Netherlands (1880-1962), who ruled as Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. She was a beloved figure in Dutch history and is remembered for her leadership during World War II, when she rallied the Dutch people against Nazi occupation.
In English-speaking countries, the name Wilhelmena has been used since the 17th century, often as a variant of the name Wilhelmina. One of the earliest recorded English bearers of the name was Wilhelmena Strickland (1786-1854), an English author and historian.
Other notable Wilhelmenas throughout history include Wilhelmena Adamson (1798-1880), an American educator and women's rights activist, and Wilhelmena Barns-Graham (1912-2004), a Scottish artist known for her abstract paintings and prints.
Despite its historical significance and associations with royalty and nobility, the name Wilhelmena has become less common in recent times, though it continues to be used in various cultures and countries around the world.
People
Wilhelmena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wilhelmena 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
Wilhelmena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wilhelmena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 161 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wilhelmena 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 2,128,909 US residents.
Is Wilhelmena a common name?
We classify Wilhelmena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 769 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wilhelmena most popular?
The single biggest year for Wilhelmena was 1919, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wilhelmena is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wilhelmena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 197 people with the name Wilhelmena, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,754 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 Wilhelmena 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 Wilhelmena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wilhelmena appears almost entirely female. Of the 191 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Wilhelmena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilhelmena is Black at 81.2%. The next largest groups are White (15.7%) and Hispanic (1.0%). 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 Wilhelmena most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Wilhelmena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.2% (160 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 Wilhelmena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wilhelmena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wilhelmena in the SSA data are female. 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 Wilhelmena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wilhelmena 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 Wilhelmena 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 Wilhelmena?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.