Wilmar
A masculine name derived from the Germanic elements "will" (desire) and "mar" (famous).
Name Census estimates that about 268 living Americans carry the first name Wilmar. It is a predominantly male name (97.4% of registrations). The average person named Wilmar today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wilmar births was 1916 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wilmar. 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
268
~ 1 in 1,278,934 Americans
Peak year
1916
23 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,238
Tracked since 1912
Census
Wilmar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,188 people with the first name Wilmar, which placed it at #10,979 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
#10,979
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,188 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
78.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wilmar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilmar is Hispanic at 78.1%. The next largest groups are White (10.7%) and Black (5.4%). 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 Wilmar 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 Wilmar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino78.1% · 928
- White10.7% · 127
- Black or African American5.4% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.4% · 52
- Two or more races0.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Wilmar
Wilmar leans heavily male at 97.4% of total registrations, but 16 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Wilmar as a male name
- Ranked #12,221 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1919 (22 births)
Wilmar as a female name
- Ranked #5,238 in 1930
- 5 female births in 1930
- Peak: 1916 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wilmar leans strongly male. 1,122 people counted with this name were male (94.4%), compared with 67 female bearers (5.6%).
Popularity
Wilmar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wilmar 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 139 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
Wilmar 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 Wilmar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wilmars live
Origin
Meaning and history of Wilmar
The name Wilmar is a combination of two Germanic elements - "wil" meaning "will" or "desire," and "mar" meaning "famous." It originated in the medieval period, likely in regions where Germanic languages were spoken, such as Germany, the Netherlands, and parts of Scandinavia.
The earliest known record of the name Wilmar dates back to the 11th century, found in a manuscript from a monastery in southern Germany. This suggests that the name may have been used by monks or religious figures during that time.
One of the earliest documented individuals with the name Wilmar was a German knight who fought in the Crusades during the 12th century. His name was recorded in chronicles as Wilmar von Essen, and he was known for his bravery and skill in battle.
In the 13th century, a Dutch merchant named Wilmar van der Meer achieved success in the textile trade and became a respected figure in the city of Leiden. His wealth and influence contributed to the growth of the city's economy.
During the Renaissance period, a German artist named Wilmar Holbein gained recognition for his remarkable skill in portraiture. Born in 1494, he was a contemporary of the famous painter Hans Holbein the Younger and worked in various courts across Europe.
Another notable figure with the name Wilmar was a German philosopher and theologian who lived in the 17th century. Wilmar von Eckhart made significant contributions to the development of Protestant theology and his writings were widely studied in universities at the time.
In the 19th century, a Norwegian explorer named Wilmar Johannsen led several expeditions to the Arctic regions. His detailed accounts of these journeys and the discoveries made during them were published and garnered great interest among geographers and scientists of the era.
People
Wilmar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wilmar 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
Wilmar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wilmar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 268 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wilmar 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 1,278,934 US residents.
Is Wilmar a common name?
We classify Wilmar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 606 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wilmar most popular?
The single biggest year for Wilmar was 1916, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wilmar is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wilmar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,188 people with the name Wilmar, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,979 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 Wilmar 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 Wilmar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wilmar leans strongly male. 1,122 people counted with this name were male (94.4%), compared with 67 female bearers (5.6%). 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 Wilmar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilmar is Hispanic at 78.1%. The next largest groups are White (10.7%) and Black (5.4%). 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 Wilmar most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Wilmar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.1% (928 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 Wilmar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wilmar a male name?
Yes, 97.4% of people registered as Wilmar 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 Wilmar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wilmar 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 Wilmar 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 Americans are named Wilmar?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.