Wilkie
Diminutive of William, a Germanic name meaning "resolute protector".
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the first name Wilkie. It is a predominantly male name (95.0% of registrations). The average person named Wilkie today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wilkie births was 1940 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wilkie. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Wilkie with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Wilkie is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Wilkies were born before 1960.
People living today
136
~ 1 in 2,520,252 Americans
Peak year
1940
61 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
1978 SSA rank
#4,275
Tracked since 1914
Census
Wilkie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 232 people with the first name Wilkie, which placed it at #34,960 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
#34,960
National first-name rank
People counted
232
232 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
42.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wilkie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilkie is White at 42.7%. The next largest groups are Black (35.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.2%). 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 Wilkie 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 Wilkie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White42.7% · 99
- Black or African American35.3% · 82
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.2% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 17
- Two or more races3.9% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Wilkie
Wilkie leans heavily male at 95.0% of total registrations, but 18 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Wilkie as a male name
- Ranked #6,739 in 1978
- 5 male births in 1978
- Peak: 1940 (61 births)
Wilkie as a female name
- Ranked #4,275 in 1927
- 7 female births in 1927
- Peak: 1927 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wilkie leans strongly male. 208 people counted with this name were male (88.9%), compared with 26 female bearers (11.1%).
Popularity
Wilkie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wilkie from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 143 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wilkie 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 Wilkie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wilkies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. North Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia recorded the most babies named Wilkie, while Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wilkie
The given name Wilkie is a diminutive form of the name William, which originated from the Germanic name Willihelm. The name is derived from the elements "wil" meaning will or desire, and "helm" meaning protection or helmet. Wilkie is a Scottish variant of the name, which emerged in the Middle Ages.
The name Wilkie gained popularity in Scotland during the 17th and 18th centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841), a renowned Scottish painter known for his genre scenes of rural life. His works, such as "The Village Holiday" and "The Penny Wedding," captured the everyday lives of ordinary people with warmth and realism.
Another notable bearer of the name was Wilkie Collins (1824-1889), an English novelist and playwright. He is best known for his works "The Woman in White" and "The Moonstone," which are considered among the first modern detective novels. Collins was a pioneer in the genre of sensation fiction and influenced many later writers.
In the field of literature, Wilkie Collins (1888-1925), an American journalist and novelist, is also noteworthy. He wrote several novels, including "The Unforgettable Fire" and "The Haunted Bookshop," which explored themes of mystery and the supernatural.
The name Wilkie also appears in the world of sports. Wilkie D. Ferguson (1900-1965) was an American baseball player who played for the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers in the 1920s and 1930s. He was known for his defensive skills as an outfielder and his strong throwing arm.
Another prominent figure with the name Wilkie was Wilkie Bard (1915-1994), a Scottish actor and comedian. He gained fame for his performances on stage, television, and in films, often portraying working-class characters with a dry wit and understated humor.
While the name Wilkie may not be as common as its parent name William, it has been borne by several notable individuals throughout history, particularly in Scotland and the literary world. The name's origins can be traced back to the Germanic elements of will and protection, reflecting the strength and determination often associated with its bearers.
People
Wilkie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wilkie 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
Wilkie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wilkie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 136 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wilkie 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 2,520,252 US residents.
Is Wilkie a common name?
We classify Wilkie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 358 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wilkie most popular?
The single biggest year for Wilkie was 1940, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wilkie is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wilkie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 232 people with the name Wilkie, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,960 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 Wilkie 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 Wilkie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wilkie leans strongly male. 208 people counted with this name were male (88.9%), compared with 26 female bearers (11.1%). 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 Wilkie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilkie is White at 42.7%. The next largest groups are Black (35.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.2%). 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 Wilkie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wilkie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.7% (99 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 Wilkie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wilkie a male name?
Yes, 95.0% of people registered as Wilkie 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 Wilkie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wilkie 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 Wilkie 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 Wilkie?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Wilkie, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.