Tolbert
From Old English meaning "noble bright."
Name Census estimates that about 258 living Americans carry the first name Tolbert. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tolbert today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tolbert births was 1922 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tolbert. 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 Tolbert is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Tolberts were born before 1965.
People living today
258
~ 1 in 1,328,505 Americans
Peak year
1922
25 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1987 SSA rank
#6,881
Tracked since 1881
Census
Tolbert in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 327 people with the first name Tolbert, which placed it at #27,781 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
#27,781
National first-name rank
People counted
327
327 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tolbert
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tolbert is White at 63.0%. The next largest groups are Black (29.7%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). 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 Tolbert 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 Tolbert at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.0% · 206
- Black or African American29.7% · 97
- Two or more races4.0% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 4
Popularity
Tolbert: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tolbert from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 172 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
Tolbert 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 Tolbert during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tolberts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Tolbert, while Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tolbert
The name Tolbert has its origins in the Germanic languages, with roots dating back to the Middle Ages. It is a compound name, formed by the combination of two elements: "tol" meaning "tax" or "toll," and "bert" meaning "bright" or "illustrious."
In its earliest known usage, the name Tolbert was likely a descriptive surname, referring to an individual who collected tolls or taxes. It may have been associated with individuals who worked as toll collectors or tax officials in medieval times.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tolbert can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land and property commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Tolbertus" in several entries, suggesting its usage in England during the 11th century.
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period, the name Tolbert continued to be used, albeit infrequently, across various parts of Europe. It is worth noting that the spelling and pronunciation of the name may have varied slightly in different regions and languages.
In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the name Tolbert was Tolbert Prentice (c. 1520 - 1585), an English theologian and author who wrote several treatises on religious topics.
Another historical figure with the name Tolbert was Tolbert Langhorne (1674 - 1751), a British colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Pennsylvania from 1737 to 1747.
In the 19th century, Tolbert Fanning (1810 - 1874) was an American religious leader and educator who co-founded the Fanning Orphan School in Tennessee.
More recently, Tolbert Lanston (1868 - 1913) was an American inventor and engineer who developed the Monotype System, a revolutionary typesetting machine that revolutionized the printing industry.
Lastly, Tolbert R. Ingram (1924 - 2011) was an American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Ingram Industries, a successful distribution company based in Nashville, Tennessee.
While the name Tolbert has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has left its mark in various fields, from religion and literature to governance and entrepreneurship. Its roots in the Germanic languages and its potential connection to tax collection or toll management make it a fascinating name with a rich historical tapestry.
People
Tolbert + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tolbert as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tolbert: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tolbert?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 258 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tolbert 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 1,328,505 US residents.
Is Tolbert a common name?
We classify Tolbert as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 792 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tolbert most popular?
The single biggest year for Tolbert was 1922, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tolbert is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tolbert in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 327 people with the name Tolbert, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,781 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 Tolbert 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 Tolbert?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tolbert leans strongly male. 314 people counted with this name were male (97.2%), compared with 9 female bearers (2.8%). 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 Tolbert?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tolbert is White at 63.0%. The next largest groups are Black (29.7%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). 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 Tolbert most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tolbert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.0% (206 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 Tolbert in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tolbert a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tolbert 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 Tolbert still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tolbert 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 Tolbert 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 the name Tolbert?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.