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Wilberforce Surname: Meaning, Origin & Hull Link

Updated 11 Nov 2026

Wilberforce is a rare place-name surname from an East Riding village, and in Hull it is bound up with one man, William Wilberforce, born in the town in 1759. The family's wealth came from Hull's overseas trade, and the house where he was born is now a museum.

What does Wilberforce mean?

Wilberforce is a locative surname, meaning "of Wilberfoss". Charles Bardsley's Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1901) gives exactly that: "of Wilberfoss", a parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire (quoted on britishsurnames.uk). Wilberfoss is a village about eight miles east of York. Wikipedia, citing the Institute for Name-Studies' Key to English Place-Names, explains the village name as Old English for "Wilburh's ditch": a woman's name, Wilburh, plus a word for a ditch (Wikipedia).

Some surname sites offer more romantic meanings. We follow the place-name evidence instead, because it is the explanation given by Bardsley, and Hull Museums likewise says the family came from Wilberfoss (below). We have not been able to read the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, so we do not quote it.

Origin and early records

Bardsley lists the earlier forms as "de Wylberfosse", meaning "from Wilberfoss":

  • Robert de Wylberfosse in Yorkshire in 1273;
  • Beer de Wilberfoss, potter, and John de Wilberfosse, potter, in the Freemen of York registers (dated by regnal year in Bardsley, in the early and late fourteenth century);
  • Edward Wilberfosse, in a London marriage licence of 1586.

Hull Museums, which runs Wilberforce House, says the family name was originally Wilberfoss, that the family came from Wilberfoss near York, and that the spelling changed in the 1600s (Hull Museums). Wikipedia adds, citing Edward Baines's 1823 History, Directory & Gazetteer of the County of York, that an "ancient and respectable" family lived in the village from the Norman Conquest until 1710, when the estate and mansion were sold. We have not checked Baines directly, and a family name does not by itself prove descent, so treat the early centuries of that account with caution.

Spelling variants

  • Wilberfoss: the village name, also found as a surname.
  • Wylberfosse, Wilberfosse: medieval spellings in Bardsley's examples.
  • Wilberforce: the later form that became standard for the Hull family. We have not found a source that explains why "-foss" became "-force", though the Hull Museums account places the change in the 1600s.

How common is Wilberforce?

britishsurnames.uk counts about 294 bearers in the UK and describes it as one of Britain's least common surnames (the page does not state the year of its data). We have no reliable count for Hull or the East Riding, and because it is a rare name we do not combine it with any detail about living people.

Wilberforce in Hull and East Yorkshire

According to Hull Museums, William Wilberforce's grandfather, also William, was born in 1690 and moved to Hull to work for John Thornton, a Hull merchant trading in the Baltic. He married Thornton's daughter Sarah in 1711 and bought the Thornton house in 1732. Wikipedia, citing Hague (2007) and Pollock (1977), says that grandfather made the family fortune through trade with the Baltic countries and was twice elected mayor of Hull.

William Wilberforce was born in that house on 24 August 1759 and was christened at Holy Trinity Church in Hull the following month (Hull Museums). He was the only son of Robert Wilberforce, a merchant, and Elizabeth Bird. He was elected MP for Kingston upon Hull in 1780 while still a student, and became MP for Yorkshire in 1784. He died on 29 July 1833 (Wikipedia, citing the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry by John Wolffe). The city corporation acquired the house in 1903 and it opened as a museum, which is now Wilberforce House Museum. For his national career, a modern biography or the ODNB entry is a better guide than a short surname page.

Notable historical bearers with a Hull connection

  • William Wilberforce (born 1690), Hull merchant in the Baltic trade, twice mayor of Hull. We have not found a source we trust for his dates of office or death, so we give none.
  • William Wilberforce (1759 to 1833), born in Hull, MP for Hull from 1780 and for Yorkshire from 1784, campaigner against the slave trade.

Researching your Wilberforce family

  • Do not assume that every Wilberforce descends from the famous family. The surname comes from a place, so unrelated families may share it.
  • For Hull records, start with the Hull History Centre's guides to Census Records, Wills, Trade Directories and Newspaper holdings.
  • The East Yorkshire Family History Society can advise on records for East Riding villages, and runs help desks in Hull and the East Riding.
  • Our piece on Hull's maritime and fishing heritage gives the background to the port the family traded through.

More surname pages are in our names section.

Sources

  1. britishsurnames.uk, "Wilberforce: as described in historical dictionaries", quoting C. W. Bardsley (1901), britishsurnames.uk/surname/wilberforce/historic (accessed 6 November 2026).
  2. britishsurnames.uk, "Wilberforce", britishsurnames.uk/surname/wilberforce (accessed 6 November 2026).
  3. Wikipedia, "Wilberfoss", en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilberfoss, citing the Institute for Name-Studies, Key to English Place-Names, and E. Baines (1823) (accessed 6 November 2026).
  4. Hull Museums, "William Wilberforce the Man: the early years", hullmuseums.co.uk (accessed 6 November 2026).
  5. Wikipedia, "William Wilberforce", en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce, citing J. Wolffe, ODNB (2009), W. Hague (2007) and J. Pollock (1977) (accessed 6 November 2026).
  6. Hull History Centre, family history research guides, hullhistorycentre.org.uk (accessed 6 November 2026).
  7. East Yorkshire Family History Society, eyfhs.org.uk (accessed 6 November 2026).

Last checked 6 November 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us.