Boys' name · peaked in 1913
Wilbur name popularity since 1925
32,214 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Wilbur. Half of them were born in 1939 or earlier, so the typical Wilbur is about 87 years old in 2026. Wilbur peaked in 1913 as the #91 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 32,214
- Named Wilbur, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1913
- #91 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #4,040 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.5% boys
- 165 girls · 32,049 boys
- Most popular in
- South Carolina
- 2.88× its national share
Peak year is the year Wilbur made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Wilbur births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Wilbur peaked earlier, in 1913.
- Steepest fall: Between 1965 and 1970, Wilbur's share of baby boys fell by 42%, from 1 in 7,290 to 1 in 12,500.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Wilbur's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Wilbur.
Decade by decade
Babies named Wilbur in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 60 | 7,162 | – |
| 1930s | 65 | 9,044 | #166 |
| 1940s | 23 | 5,962 | #259 |
| 1950s | 17 | 4,133 | #346 |
| 1960s | 0 | 2,572 | #485 |
| 1970s | 0 | 1,273 | #757 |
| 1980s | 0 | 782 | #1,032 |
| 1990s | 0 | 433 | #2,054 |
| 2000s | 0 | 259 | #4,627 |
| 2010s | 0 | 251 | #3,679 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 178 | #4,040 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
48.6% of babies named Wilbur from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Wilbur is most popular
The index compares Wilbur's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Wilbur.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | 2.88× | 1,166 |
| Kansas | 2.03× | 599 |
| Indiana | 1.93× | 1,320 |
| West Virginia | 1.93× | 492 |
| Iowa | 1.92× | 705 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Wilbur and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Wilbur (this page) | 32,049 | 1913 |
| Wilber | 4,505 | 1882 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Wilbur's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Wilbur.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Wilbur (1913).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data