Wilkens
Son of William or brave, resolute protector.
Name Census estimates that about 29 living Americans carry the first name Wilkens. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wilkens today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wilkens births was 2006 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wilkens. 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 Wilkens. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
29
~ 1 in 11,819,115 Americans
Peak year
2006
8 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2009 SSA rank
#14,412
Tracked since 1992
Census
Wilkens in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 237 people with the first name Wilkens, which placed it at #34,427 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
#34,427
National first-name rank
People counted
237
237 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wilkens
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilkens is Black at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and White (2.1%). 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 Wilkens 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 Wilkens at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.5% · 212
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 11
- White2.1% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 4
- Two or more races1.7% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Wilkens: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wilkens from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 17 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Wilkens remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wilkens 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 Wilkens during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wilkens' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Wilkens
The name Wilkens is believed to have originated from the Germanic languages, specifically from the Old English and Old Frisian roots "wil" meaning "will" or "desire," and "kin" meaning "child" or "offspring." The name was initially spelled as "Wilkin" or "Wilchin" in its earliest forms.
In the early medieval period, the name Wilkens was prevalent in regions of present-day England, the Netherlands, and parts of northern Germany. It gained popularity as a personal name during the 9th to 12th centuries, particularly among Anglo-Saxon and Frisian communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wilkens can be found in the Domesday Book, a highly influential survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Wilchin," referring to several individuals listed as landholders or tenants.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Wilkens. One of the earliest known was Wilkens of Thorn (c. 1100-1175), a Frisian chieftain and military leader who played a significant role in the conflicts between the Frisians and the Counts of Holland during the 12th century.
In the 13th century, Wilkens van der Linde (c. 1210-1272) was a prominent Dutch nobleman and diplomat who served as a counselor to the Count of Holland and was instrumental in negotiating treaties between various Dutch cities and the Holy Roman Empire.
During the Renaissance period, Wilkens Baer (1516-1588) was a German painter and engraver known for his intricate woodcuts and religious works. His artwork adorned churches and monasteries throughout Germany and the Netherlands.
In the 19th century, Wilkens Adolph von Hohenzollern (1811-1885), a member of the Prussian royal family, served as a military officer and later became the Governor-General of the Rhine Province in Germany.
Another notable figure was Wilkens Bouwman (1873-1949), a Dutch architect and urban planner who designed several iconic buildings and public spaces in Amsterdam, including the iconic Beurs van Berlage.
While these are just a few examples, the name Wilkens has a rich history spanning various regions and time periods, reflecting its enduring presence and cultural significance within the Germanic linguistic and cultural traditions.
People
Wilkens + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wilkens 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
Wilkens: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wilkens?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 29 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wilkens 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 11,819,115 US residents.
Is Wilkens a common name?
We classify Wilkens as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wilkens most popular?
The single biggest year for Wilkens was 2006, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wilkens is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wilkens in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 237 people with the name Wilkens, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,427 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 Wilkens 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 Wilkens?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wilkens appears almost entirely male. Of the 229 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Wilkens?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilkens is Black at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and White (2.1%). 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 Wilkens most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Wilkens in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.5% (212 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 Wilkens in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wilkens a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wilkens 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 Wilkens still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wilkens 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 Wilkens 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 the name Wilkens?
See how many people have the name Wilkens on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.