Tilden
Masculine · “Tila's valley”
Tilden is given to both — 1,345 boys and 96 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Tilden is an English valley, and its American career has a precise cause: a presidential candidate who won the popular vote in 1876 and did not become president. A wave of babies was named for him.
How old is the name Tilden?
Tilden was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Tilden alive today was born around 1983, making them about 42 years old. About 900 people named Tilden are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tilden most popular?
Tilden peaked in 1880, reaching #682 nationally. Today it ranks #2991, 2,309 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Tila denu to Tilden
The story of Tilden
Tilden is a place in Kent and the surname came from it, reaching New England in the seventeenth century. Its appearance as an American given name is unusually well explained: Samuel Tilden was the Democratic candidate in the disputed election of 1876, won more votes than his opponent and lost the presidency in a commission ruling, and American families named sons for him in numbers for the next few years. Naming after a losing candidate is rarer than naming after a winner, which makes the spike interesting.
Meaning
Tila's valley
Old English: a personal name, generally given as Tila, with denu, 'valley' — the long shallow kind with a stream in it. Tilden in Kent is recorded in that form. The -den ending is the same one in Camden, Marsden and Hayden, and it is a valley rather than anything else. The reading is documented.
How the name formed
- Tila denu
- Tilden
Pronouncing Tilden
TIL-den
Two syllables, stress on the first, the second reduced. There is no ambiguity in the sound; the name is straightforward in every American accent.
Nicknames for Tilden
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 202541 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #682reached in 1880
- Change vs 2023
- +28.1%41 in 2025, from 32
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.
Tilden in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California.
Tildens among us
people named Tilden are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 41,660 born in 2025 was named Tilden
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Tilden sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Tilden is headed
Tilden should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Tilden beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tilden in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented English place-name with a plain and traceable meaning.
- Two syllables and phonetic spelling, with nothing silent to explain.
- Til and Den are both usable short forms.
- It is unmistakably a surname and will be read as one on forms.
- It carries a strong nineteenth-century American flavor, which reads as either handsome or dated.
- Tilden, Tilton and Tilman sit close together and get confused.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Tilden
Masculine · #2991 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tildens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Tilden are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tilden in 2025?
- Tilden ranks #2991 among US boy names in 2025, with 41 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tilden?
- About 1 in every 41,660 US boys born in 2025 was named Tilden — 41 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tilden with classmates?
- Tilden will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tilden
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roran#2991 · Izaak#2991 · Nyle#2991 · Levin#2991 · Hanson#2991 · Breck#2991 · Kevon#2991 · Oswaldo#2991
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tilden? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tilden and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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