Hildreth
Feminine
Hildreth is given to both — 789 girls and 97 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Hildreth is recorded for boys and girls alike, which fits: the first element in it was used for both in Old English and Old Norse. It is a word about fighting, and in Norse it is also a personal name for one of the women who chose who died.
How old is the name Hildreth?
Hildreth first appears in US birth records in 1892 — 133 years ago. The typical Hildreth alive today was born around 1919, making them about 106 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Hildreth are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Hildreth most popular?
Hildreth peaked in 1905, reaching #1011 nationally. See the whole 1905 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Hildreth
The valkyries in Norse poetry are not given decorative names. They are named after the components of a battle: one is Hild, which simply means battle; others are named for tumult, for the shaker of spears, for the shrieking one, for the one who binds fetters. The effect in the poems is less like meeting a group of characters than like watching a fight break into its parts and walk about. Hild turns up in Germanic personal names all over Europe, for men and women alike, and it is the same element in Hilda, Matilda, Brunhild and Clothilde. It stopped being a word in English long ago; it survives only inside names, where it has been quietly meaning battle for fifteen hundred years.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The first element is the old Germanic word for battle, which is well documented. The second is not securely identified, and it is not certain that this is a single inherited compound rather than a surname or a modern build. The record holds it for both sexes and explains neither.
Pronouncing Hildreth
HIL-dreth
Two syllables with the stress in front. The th is the soft one, as in breath.
Nicknames for Hildreth
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1892
- Most girls named
- 191840 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1011reached in 1905
- Change vs 1954
- +20.0%6 in 1956, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Hildreths among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Hildreth are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Hildreth sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is read correctly at first sight and rarely needs spelling twice.
- It is recorded for boys and for girls, so it leaves a question open rather than closing it.
- Hildy is available as a short form and works either way.
- Most children with this spelling are girls, but a real minority are boys; either may be taken for the other.
- It reads as a name of a much older American generation, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
- The second half is not securely identified, so the meaning question has half an answer.
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What they receive
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Hildreth
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Hildreths are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Hildreth are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Hildreth in 2025?
- Hildreth is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Hildreth with classmates?
- Hildreth will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More H names
The most-given names starting with H, all years combined.
Helen#461 · Heather#1261 · Hannah#56 · Hazel#21 · Holly#416 · Hailey#104 · Haley#861 · Heidi#340
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hildreth? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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