Wilman
Of German origin meaning "resolute protector" or "determined guardian".
Name Census estimates that about 143 living Americans carry the first name Wilman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wilman today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wilman births was 1920 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wilman. 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.
People living today
143
~ 1 in 2,396,883 Americans
Peak year
1920
10 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,868
Tracked since 1915
Census
Wilman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 908 people with the first name Wilman, which placed it at #13,344 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
#13,344
National first-name rank
People counted
908
908 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
86.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wilman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilman is Hispanic at 86.5%. The next largest groups are White (5.6%) and Black (4.3%). 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 Wilman 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 Wilman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino86.5% · 785
- White5.6% · 51
- Black or African American4.3% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 6
- Two or more races0.7% · 6
Popularity
Wilman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wilman from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 47 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Wilman remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wilman 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 Wilman during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wilman
The name Wilman is a relatively uncommon given name, with its origins rooted in Old English and Germanic languages. It is believed to have derived from the combination of the Old English words "wil," meaning "will" or "desire," and "mann," meaning "man."
In the early medieval period, the name Wilman was primarily found among Anglo-Saxon communities in what is now England. It was often used to denote a person with a strong will or determination, reflecting the cultural values of the time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wilman can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This historical document mentions a landowner named Wilman, indicating the name's usage during the Norman period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Wilman. One such person was Wilman of Crowland, a 12th-century Benedictine monk and chronicler from Crowland Abbey in Lincolnshire, England. His chronicles provided valuable insights into the political and religious landscape of his time.
Another historical figure with the name Wilman was Wilman of Waltham, a 13th-century English clergyman who served as the Archdeacon of Surrey and was involved in the construction of Waltham Abbey Church.
In the realm of literature, Wilman the Watchman is a character mentioned in the medieval poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," composed in the 14th century. This work is considered one of the greatest literary achievements of the Middle English period.
During the Renaissance, a notable Wilman was Wilman Browne, a 16th-century English politician and landowner who served as a Member of Parliament for Dorset in 1554 and 1555.
In the 18th century, Wilman Gonne was a British naval officer who participated in several significant battles during the American Revolutionary War, including the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.
These examples illustrate the historical presence of the name Wilman, though its usage has declined significantly in more recent times. Nevertheless, the name remains a part of the rich tapestry of English and Germanic onomastic heritage.
People
Wilman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wilman 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
Wilman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wilman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 143 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wilman 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 2,396,883 US residents.
Is Wilman a common name?
We classify Wilman as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 230 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wilman most popular?
The single biggest year for Wilman was 1920, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wilman is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wilman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 908 people with the name Wilman, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,344 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 Wilman 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 Wilman?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wilman leans strongly male. 866 people counted with this name were male (95.6%), compared with 40 female bearers (4.4%). 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 Wilman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilman is Hispanic at 86.5%. The next largest groups are White (5.6%) and Black (4.3%). 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 Wilman most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Wilman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.5% (785 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 Wilman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wilman a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wilman 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 Wilman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wilman 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 Wilman 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 Wilman as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.