Wilder
Feminine · “wild”
Wilder is given to both — 638 girls and 8,197 boys since 1880. See Wilder as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Wilder is an English and German surname meaning exactly what it looks like: the wild one, or the man who hunted in wild country. It is given to girls and boys alike in current records.
How old is the name Wilder?
Wilder first appears in US birth records in 1918 — 107 years ago. The typical Wilder is a kid of about 4 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Wilder are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Wilder most popular?
Wilder peaked in 2021, reaching #2131 nationally. Today it ranks #3517, 1,386 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From wilde to Wilder
The story of Wilder
Descriptive bynames are among the oldest surnames in both English and German, and Wilder belongs with Wild, Wilde and Wildman. German-speaking families brought it to America in numbers, and an American author of the name wrote a series of children's books about the frontier that made it familiar to several generations. Its use as a given name is recent and belongs with Fox, Wolf and Bear.
Meaning
wild, untamed; a hunter
From Middle High German wilde, wild, giving a byname for someone unruly or for a man who worked in uncultivated country; the English surname has the same source through Old English wilde.
How the name formed
- wilde
- Wilder
Related forms: Wilder · Wilde
Pronouncing Wilder
WYL-der
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Wilder
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
- 1918
- Most girls named
- 202289 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2131reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- −12.2%43 in 2025, from 49
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.
Wilder in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Wilder in German — same name
- Wilde in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Tennessee.
Wilders among us
people named Wilder are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 37,378 born in 2025 was named Wilder
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Wilder
- #3517
- Wilder on the 2025 chart
- #876
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Wilder went to 43 girls in 2025, but Wylder is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 84, which makes it the 876th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,641 places above the chart.
- Wilder43
- Wylder41
About 1 girl in 19,134 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 37,378 for Wilder itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Maryfrances test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Wilder's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Maryfrances climbed just as high around 1963, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Maryfrances's path sketches the road Wilder is walking now.
Wilder 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 Wilder is headed
Wilder should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Wilder beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Wilder in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled and completely transparent meaning.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- It works for a girl or a boy, which is useful before a birth.
- It is a comparative adjective in English, so it invites the question wilder than what.
- The frontier books are the first association for many Americans.
- It is read as a boy's name by default, and she will correct that often.
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What they receive
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Wilder
Feminine · #3517 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Wilders are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Wilder are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Wilder?
- Wilder is the most-used spelling in US records — 43 of the 84 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Wylder.
- How popular is the name Wilder in 2025?
- Wilder ranks #3517 among US girl names in 2025, with 43 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Wilder?
- About 1 in every 37,378 US girls born in 2025 was named Wilder — 43 in all.
- Will my child share the name Wilder with classmates?
- Wilder will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Wilder
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Maida#3517 · Amada#3517 · Afton#3517 · Allura#3517 · Jaina#3517 · Hallee#3517 · Katara#3517 · Joella#3517
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Wilder? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Wilder and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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