Wilfrid
Of Old French and Germanic origin, meaning "desires peace".
Name Census estimates that about 269 living Americans carry the first name Wilfrid. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wilfrid today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wilfrid births was 1922 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wilfrid. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Wilfrid with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Wilfrid is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Wilfrids were born before 1964.
People living today
269
~ 1 in 1,274,180 Americans
Peak year
1922
57 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,942
Tracked since 1887
Census
Wilfrid in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 923 people with the first name Wilfrid, which placed it at #13,172 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
#13,172
National first-name rank
People counted
923
923 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
61.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wilfrid
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilfrid is Black at 61.1%. The next largest groups are White (31.5%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Wilfrid 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 Wilfrid at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American61.1% · 564
- White31.5% · 291
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 33
- Two or more races2.2% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Wilfrid: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wilfrid from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 460 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
Wilfrid 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 Wilfrid during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wilfrids live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine recorded the most babies named Wilfrid, while Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wilfrid
The name Wilfrid is derived from the Old English name Wilfrið, which is composed of the elements wil (meaning "will" or "desire") and frið (meaning "peace" or "protection"). This name originated among the Anglo-Saxons in England during the medieval period.
The earliest known historical figure with this name was Saint Wilfrid (c. 634-709), a highly influential Anglo-Saxon bishop and missionary credited with helping to spread Christianity in Northumbria and the kingdom of Mercia. He played a significant role in the Synod of Whitby in 664, which established the Roman calculation of Easter as the norm for the Church in England.
Another notable bearer of this name was Wilfrid the Younger (c. 680-c. 744), who was also an Anglo-Saxon bishop and the nephew of Saint Wilfrid. He served as the Bishop of York and was known for his efforts in reforming the monastic life in Northumbria.
In the 12th century, Wilfrid of York (c. 1090-1154) was an English prelate who served as the Archbishop of York from 1147 until his death. He was involved in the long-standing dispute between the Archbishops of York and Canterbury over primacy in England.
Another historical figure with this name was Wilfrid Holme (c. 1610-1689), an English Benedictine monk and writer who was a prominent figure in the Catholic literary community of his time. He is known for his works on religious and historical topics.
In the 19th century, Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (1840-1922) was an English poet, writer, and diplomat who played a significant role in the political and literary circles of Victorian England. He was also an advocate for Arab causes and an opponent of British imperialism in the Middle East.
People
Wilfrid + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wilfrid 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
Wilfrid: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wilfrid?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 269 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wilfrid 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 1,274,180 US residents.
Is Wilfrid a common name?
We classify Wilfrid as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,419 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wilfrid most popular?
The single biggest year for Wilfrid was 1922, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wilfrid is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wilfrid in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 923 people with the name Wilfrid, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,172 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 Wilfrid 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 Wilfrid?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wilfrid appears almost entirely male. Of the 922 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Wilfrid?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilfrid is Black at 61.1%. The next largest groups are White (31.5%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Wilfrid most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Wilfrid in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.1% (564 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 Wilfrid in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wilfrid a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wilfrid 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 Wilfrid still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wilfrid 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 Wilfrid 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 common is the name Wilfrid?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Wilfrid on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.