Bubber
Possibly a variant of the English word "bub", meaning a small sibling.
Name Census estimates that about 17 living Americans carry the first name Bubber. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bubber today is around 84 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bubber births was 1919 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bubber. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Bubber is about 84 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bubbers were born before 1952.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Bubber. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
17
~ 1 in 20,162,020 Americans
Peak year
1919
11 babies that year
Average age
84
years old
1957 SSA rank
#4,052
Tracked since 1900
Popularity
Bubber: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bubber from the 1900s through to the 1950s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 49 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bubber 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 Bubber during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bubbers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bubber
The name Bubber is an ancient Germanic name with roots dating back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Old High German word "bubba," meaning "little boy" or "young boy." This term was a playful and affectionate way of referring to a young male child in the early Germanic tribes of central Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bubber can be found in the Codex Sangallensis, a 9th-century manuscript containing various Germanic legal texts and linguistic records. Here, the name is spelled as "Bubber" and is listed as a personal name among the Alemanni tribe.
Throughout the Middle Ages, Bubber remained a popular name among German-speaking populations, particularly in the regions of modern-day Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. It was often used as a nickname or diminutive form of longer Germanic names that contained the root "bub" or "bub-," such as Hubert or Ruprecht.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Bubber was Bubber von Gundelfingen, a 13th-century German knight and military commander from the region of Swabia. He is mentioned in several chronicles of the time for his participation in the Crusades and battles against the Mongol invaders in Eastern Europe.
Another individual of note was Bubber Knobloch, a 15th-century German artisan and woodcarver from the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. His intricate woodcarvings adorned many churches and buildings in the region, and several of his works are still preserved in museums today.
In the 16th century, the name Bubber gained some popularity in the Netherlands, where it was sometimes spelled as "Bouwer" or "Bouber." One notable Dutch bearer of the name was Bouwer Hendriksz, a 16th-century painter from the city of Utrecht who was known for his religious and allegorical works.
As the centuries progressed, the name Bubber gradually fell out of common usage in most Germanic-speaking regions, although it continued to be used occasionally as a nickname or diminutive form. However, it has remained a relatively rare and distinctive name throughout history.
People
Bubber + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bubber as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bubber: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bubber?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bubber 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 20,162,020 US residents.
Is Bubber a common name?
We classify Bubber as "Very Rare". It ranks above 37.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 138 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bubber most popular?
The single biggest year for Bubber was 1919, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bubber is about 84 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Bubber in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bubber a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bubber 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 Bubber still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bubber 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 Bubber 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Bubber?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.