Wilbur ranks #816 with 144 male registrations. The name carries one specific cultural anchor for almost every American owner: the runt pig from Charlotte's Web, who turned the name into a permanent shorthand for gentle, slightly anxious, deeply lovable creatures.
The Charlotte's Web lineage
Wilbur is the rare pet name where the literary reference does most of the work. E.B. White's 1952 novel and its film adaptations made Wilbur the canonical pig name in American pop culture, and that association now slides across species. On dog licenses, Wilbur lands disproportionately on pugs, French bulldogs, and snub-nosed breeds whose body language already evokes the storybook pig. See pug names for the cluster.
Sound and the Old English root
Two syllables, front-stressed (WIL-bur), with a soft W opening and a rolled R tail. The etymology traces to Old English Wilburh, a feminine name meaning roughly "resolute fortress," but that root is almost entirely buried under the children's-book weight now. The name calls cleanly outdoors and tolerates the babbling registers households use with small dogs.
The counter-reading
The honest read is that Wilbur is a sentimental name worn proudly. It works exactly when the household wants the storybook softness on display. If the goal is older-American quirk without the Charlotte's Web tag, Wallace or Walter sit nearby. The human Wilbur page shows the human form steadily fading.