Gilbert
About Gilbert
Considered ultra debonair in the silent-movie era, Gilbert then went through a nerdy phase, a la Gilbert Gottfried. Now though, like Albert and Alfred and Walter and Frank, it could be in for a style revival.
Gilbert has always been on the US popularity list, reaching as high as Number 90 in 1930. The Normans introduced Gilbert to England, where it was common during the Middle Ages; it was the name of a 12th century English saint.
Gilberts have appeared in such books as Henry James's Portrait of a Lady, Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables, and Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, and on screen in The Incredibles and as embodied by the young Johnny Depp in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?. The most famous portrait painter of George Washington was Gilbert Stuart.
Nickname Gil could come back along with Hal, but even more appealing are Gib or Gibby.
Pronounced GIL-bert.
As of October 2026, Gilbert ranked #1330 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #90 in 1930, Nameberry popularity #504.
Editor's take: The name Gilbert is a boy's name of German origin meaning "shining pledge".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #895 | 241 | 125.5 |
| 2015 | #985 | 210 | 109.6 |
| 2016 | #958 | 215 | 113.3 |
| 2017 | #1,026 | 196 | 105.9 |
| 2018 | #1,154 | 166 | 91.4 |
| 2019 | #1,121 | 175 | 97.5 |
| 2020 | #1,174 | 164 | 95 |
| 2021 | #1,215 | 159 | 90.9 |
| 2022 | #1,229 | 160 | 91.6 |
| 2023 | #1,173 | 175 | 102.3 |
| 2024 | #1,394 | 134 | 77.8 |
| 2025 | #1,330 | 145 | 84.9 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Gilbert.
- Bernard
- Clarence
- Harold
- Seymour
- Eugene
- Ralph
- Leonard
- Archibald
- Wilfred
- Wallace
- Arnold
- Howard
- Oswald
- Edgar
- Reginald
- Clifford
- Ernest
- Laurence
- Humphrey
- Roger
Gilbert on lists
Famous Gilberts
- (Marie
Joseph Paul Yves Roch) Gilbert du Motier (de Lafayette), Marquis de Lafayette, French officer in the American Revolution
- Gilbert Keith Chesterton
English writer
- Gilbert Charles Stuart
American painter
- Gilbert Gottfried
American actor/comedian
- Gilbert Jay Arenas
American basketball player
- Gilbert Burnet
Scottish theologian
- Gilbert Ryle
English philosopher
- Gilbert Fowler White
American geographer
- Gilbert White
English naturalist
- Gilbert Roland
American actor
- Gilbert Newton Lewis
American physical chemist
- Gilbert Sorrentino
American novelist and poet
- Gilbert Foliot
medieval Bishop of London
- Gilbert James Glenn (b. 2012)
son of TV anchor Fredricka Whitfield and John Glenn; twin sister Nola Amanda
- Gilbert Malone (b. 2013)
son of choirmaster and TV personality Gareth Malone
- Gilbert Melendez
UFC featherweight fighter
Gilbert in pop culture
- Gilbert Blythe
character in L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series
- Gilbert Greenleaf
character in "Castle Dangerous" by Sir Walter Scott
- Gilbert Pinfold
character in "The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold" by Evelyn Waugh
- Gilbert Beilschmidt
Personification of Prussia in "Axis Powers: Hetalia"
- Gilbert "Gil" Grissom
character on TV's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"
- Gilbert Grape
main character in movie "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?"
- Gilbert Lawson
character on TV's "Community"
- Gilbert Markham
character in 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' by Anne Bronte
- Gilbert "Gil" Nightray
character in the manga/anime "Pandora Hearts"
- Gilbert Bingley
character in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
- Elena and Jeremy Gilbert
characters on TV's The Vampire Diaries