Head to head · Boys' names
Pablo vs Wilder
#429 vs #429 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Pablo and Wilder share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#429). The records cannot split them; sound and story will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Pablo leads 3 measures of 6; Wilder leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Pablo #605, Wilder — — Pablo higher
- 1890s: Pablo #631, Wilder — — Pablo higher
- 1900s: Pablo #506, Wilder — — Pablo higher
- 1910s: Pablo #673, Wilder #3039 — Pablo higher
- 1920s: Pablo #481, Wilder #3447 — Pablo higher
- 1930s: Pablo #488, Wilder #2680 — Pablo higher
- 1940s: Pablo #531, Wilder #2815 — Pablo higher
- 1950s: Pablo #520, Wilder #3593 — Pablo higher
- 1960s: Pablo #478, Wilder #3935 — Pablo higher
- 1970s: Pablo #394, Wilder #4986 — Pablo higher
- 1980s: Pablo #367, Wilder #5298 — Pablo higher
- 1990s: Pablo #327, Wilder #4161 — Pablo higher
- 2000s: Pablo #304, Wilder #3021 — Pablo higher
- 2010s: Pablo #394, Wilder #1178 — Pablo higher
- 2020s: Pablo #403, Wilder #401 — Wilder higher
Pablo stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Wilder took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Pablo | Wilder |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #605 | — |
| 1890s | #631 | — |
| 1900s | #506 | — |
| 1910s | #673 | #3039 |
| 1920s | #481 | #3447 |
| 1930s | #488 | #2680 |
| 1940s | #531 | #2815 |
| 1950s | #520 | #3593 |
| 1960s | #478 | #3935 |
| 1970s | #394 | #4986 |
| 1980s | #367 | #5298 |
| 1990s | #327 | #4161 |
| 2000s | #304 | #3021 |
| 2010s | #394 | #1178 |
| 2020s | #403 | #401 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Pablo
- France#68
Wilder
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Pablo
small, humble
From the Latin cognomen Paulus, an ordinary Roman family name meaning 'small' or 'little'.
Paulus → Paulo → Pablo
How it traveled
Paulus began as a Roman cognomen, one of the plain descriptive surnames Latin families carried for generations. It spread far beyond Rome because Saul of Tarsus, the first-century missionary whose letters make up much of the New Testament, is known throughout Christendom as Paul — and wherever those letters were read, the name followed.
Wilder
from the word "wild" — either a dweller on wild, uncultivated land or "the wild one"
Two readings compete, and both lead back to the same root. English surname scholarship points to a topographic origin: someone who lived on or near untilled, uncleared ground. The German and Swiss surname Wilder is read instead as a nickname from the adjective wild, untamed. Neither has pushed the other out.
wilde (Old English: wild, untamed) → Wilde → Wilder (surname) → Wilder (given name)
How it traveled
For most of its life Wilder was a family name, not a first name — English in one line, German and Swiss in another, both from the word wild. It traveled to North America with both groups and became a well-established American surname, familiar from the bindings of books before it was ever called out to a child.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Pablo
PAH-bloh
Stress on the first syllable in both Spanish and English. Spanish gives the a a fuller, rounder sound and softens the b almost to a v between vowels; English speakers usually land on PAH-bloh, which everyone recognizes.
- Pablito — The standard Spanish diminutive, used affectionately within families and mostly in childhood.
- Pab — An informal English-language clipping, heard occasionally among friends rather than family.
- Pablo — Already short enough that most bearers use the full name in every setting, formal and casual alike.
Wilder
WILE-der
Two syllables, stress on the first, rhyming with milder. English speakers read it correctly on sight because the word wilder is already in the language.
- Will — The most natural short form, and a long-established given name in its own right.
- Wil — Informal spelling that keeps the single l of the full name.
- Wildy — Playground-style and family-only; not used formally.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Pablo if you want…
- a name holding steadyPablo is holding its place on the charts
- a name that charts abroad tooPablo is on the national lists of France
- a long American recordPablo was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Wilder if you want…
- a newer arrivalWilder entered the US charts in 1914
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Pablo
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and known on sight across the Spanish-speaking world, France, Italy and the English-speaking countries.
- A long unbroken record in American use, with no sharp fashion spike behind it — it has never been the name of one particular moment.
- Short, evenly stressed and easy for a small child to say and write.
To consider
- It reads as clearly Spanish, which some families want and others may find leads to assumptions about heritage or to a first-meeting question about where the name comes from.
- There is one very well-known Colombian bearer from the drug trade whose name still draws the odd joke — set against artists and poets who carried it too, but worth knowing in advance.
- No natural English nickname beyond the Spanish Pablito, so a child who wants a shortened everyday name has little to work with.
Wilder
Strengths
- Spelled exactly like an everyday English word, so it rarely needs repeating or clarifying.
- Shortens cleanly to Will, a short form with centuries of use behind it.
- A documented surname in both English and German-speaking countries, so it reads as a name rather than an invention.
To consider
- It is the comparative form of wild, which invites the obvious joke — wilder than what? Most bearers meet that line early and stop noticing it.
- Its wave is very recent, so nearly everyone carrying it is a child. There are few adult Wilders to make the name feel age-neutral yet.
- The variant spelling Wylder is also in use, so expect to be asked which one you mean when giving it over the phone.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Pablo and Wilder in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Pablo and Wilder?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- France's favorites still rare in America
- Names borrowed from poets
- Names borrowed from painters
- Boho names for free spirits
- all guides
Where Pablo and Wilder each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Pablo or Wilder — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Pablo or Wilder?
- They tie in 2025: Pablo ranked #429 with 743 babies; Wilder ranked #429 with 743 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Pablo or Wilder?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Pablo moved down 44 places; Wilder moved down 3 places.
- Which is the older name, Pablo or Wilder?
- Pablo was already in use when US records began in 1880; Wilder entered the US charts in 1914. On the American record, Pablo is the older name.
- How many people are named Pablo and Wilder?
- About 43,500 people named Pablo are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 8,000 people named Wilder are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Pablos or Wilders in the classroom?
- Pablo will almost certainly be the only one in school. Wilder will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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