Given name & surname
Wilbert
“one who is willful; a bright man”
Wilbert is used as a given name and a surname. One German interpretation is “one who is willful; a bright man.”
Original GermanGuilbert
Meaning & origin
What it means
One German interpretation is “one who is willful; a bright man.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is German.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Wilbert through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 40,193
- 40,015 boys · 178 girls
- Most popular year
- 1922
- 902 babies
- 2025
- 20
- #5,031 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −30%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 20 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 5,031 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 30.3% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 902 in 1922. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 14,768 as a first name in 2020; 2,689 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Wilbert’s family of names
In English usage, Wilbert shares a linguistic root with the Old English form Wilberht. Wilbert has a related form in Wilbur. Wilbert has a related form in Wilber.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 13
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Guilbertvariant · German
- Wilburvariant
- Wilbervariant
- Willbertlikely variant
- Wilbernvariant
- Wilburtvariant
- Wilberttlikely variant
- Wilpertvariant
Show 5 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Wilbert
- Bill CobbsAmerican actor (1934–2024)
- Wilbert AwdryBritish vicar and author (1911–1997)
- Wilbert SuvrijnDutch football player and agentborn 1962
- Wilbert McClureAmerican boxer (1938-2020)
- Wilbert LondonAmerican male sprinterborn 1997
- W. Lee O'DanielAmerican politician (1890–1969)
- Wilbert RobinsonAmerican baseball player and manager (1863–1934)
- Wilbert HarrisonAmerican rhythm and blues singer, pianist, guitarist and harmonica player (1929-1994)
- Wil JonesAmerican basketball playerborn 1947
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Wilbert, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Elbert
“a wellborn man” · “a bright man”
>99% boys
Hubert
“having a shining intellect”
>99% boys
Lambert
“the light of the land”
>99% boys
Willard
“a resolute and brave man”
>99% boys
Winfield
“from a friend's field”
>99% boys
Norbert
“one who shines from the north”
>99% boys
Herbert
“an illustrious warrior”
>99% boys
Gilbert
“servant of St BRIDGET” · “of the bright promise”
>99% boys