Wilbur (name)

Wilbur is an English and German masculine given name of Germanic origin as well as a surname. The etymology of the name is disputed, however the most accepted theory is that it is composed of the elements wilþī- (Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz-) "wild", and ebur (Proto-Germanic *eburaz) "boar". Another suggestion is that it derives from German willo (Proto-Germanic *wiljô) "will", "wish", "desire", and burg (Proto-Germanic *burgz) "fortress".^{[1][2][3][4][5]} Notable people with the name include:

Surname

• Cornelia B. Wilbur (1908–1992), American psychiatrist
• Crane Wilbur (1886–1973), American writer, actor and director of stage, radio and screen
• Curtis D. Wilbur (1867–1954), US Secretary of the Navy and Chief Justice of California
• George P. Wilbur (1941–2023), actor and stuntman
• Jay Wilbur (1898–1970), British bandleader
• John Wilbur (disambiguation)
• Ray Lyman Wilbur (1875–1949), American doctor, president of Stanford University and United States Secretary of the Interior
• Richard Wilbur (1921–2017), United States Poet Laureate and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner
• Richard C. Wilbur (1936–2020), judge of the United States Tax Court
• Sylvia Wilbur (born 1938), British computer scientist
• Todd Wilbur, American cookbook author
• William Wilbur, New York politician
• William H. Wilbur (1888–1979), US Army brigadier general

Given name

• Wilbur Cave (fl. 1970s–2000s), American politician from South Carolina
• Wilbur Clark (1908–1965), American businessman and owner of hotels and casinos
• Wilbur Cobb (1929–2020), American jazz drummer
• Wilbur J. Cohen (1913–1987), American social scientist and, as a civil servant, one of the key architects of the welfare state
• Wilbur Cooper (1892–1973), Major League Baseball pitcher
• Wilbur Lucius Cross (1862–1948), American educator and Governor of Connecticut
• Wilbur Good (1885–1963), Major League Baseball player
• Wilbur Jackson (born 1951), American collegiate and National Football League running back
• Wilbur MacDonald (1933–2020), Canadian politician
• Wilbur Mills (1909–1992), influential member of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas
• Wilbur Ross (born 1937), American investor and 39th Secretary of Commerce
• Wilbur Schramm (1907–1987), American journalist and academic sometimes called the "father of communication studies"
• Wilbur Shaw (1902–1954), American racing driver
• Wilbur Smith (1933–2021), South African novelist
• Wilbur Soot (born 1996), English YouTuber, Twitch streamer, and musician
• Wilbur Sweatman (1882–1961), African-American ragtime and dixieland jazz composer, bandleader and clarinetist
• Wilbur J. Thomas (1920–1947), American combat pilot
• Wilbur Thomas (fl. 1970s), American former basketball player
• Wilbur Ware (1923–1979), American jazz double-bassist
• Wilbur Wood (born 1941), former Major League Baseball pitcher
• Wilbur Wright (1867–1912), one of the two brothers generally credited with inventing the first successful airplane
• Wilbur Young (1949–2014), American football player

Fictional characters

• Cousin Wilbur, the title character of the 1939 short film Cousin Wilbur
• Wilbur, in the 2002 film Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
• Wilbur, the albatross in the 1990 animated film The Rescuers Down Under
• Wilbur, the checkerboard elephant in the 1994 picture book Elmer and Wilbur
• Wilbur, the grasshopper in the 1939 animated short film Goofy and Wilbur
• Wilbur, the pig in the 1952 children's novel Charlotte's Web and subsequent adaptations
• Wilbur, the title character of the children's television series Wilbur
• Wilbur Force, in the 1960 film The Little Shop of Horrors
• Wilbur Post, in the television series Mister Ed
• Wilbur Robinson, in the 1990 picture book A Day with Wilbur Robinson and its film adaptation Meet the Robinsons

See also

• Wilber (given name)
• Wilber (surname)