Wilford
Masculine · “willow ford”
Wilford is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 10,442 boys against 5 girls since 1880.
Wilford is the ford by the willows — an English place name of the plainest kind, and a real village on the Trent outside Nottingham.
How old is the name Wilford?
Wilford was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Wilford alive today was born around 1932, making them about 93 years old. About 3,100 people named Wilford are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Wilford most popular?
Wilford peaked in 1911, reaching #328 nationally. Today it ranks #8243, 7,915 places below that high. See the whole 1911 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From welig ford to Wilford
The story of Wilford
Wilford was an English place name and surname that crossed into American given-name use in the nineteenth century, alongside Wilbur, Wilburn and Wilmer, all sharing the same front element. It was particularly common among Mormon families, and Wilford Woodruff led the church from 1889. It peaked around 1918.
Meaning
willow ford
From the Old English welig, 'willow', and ford, a river crossing. Both elements are ordinary and the compound is transparent. Wilford in Nottinghamshire is the best known of the places so named. Willows grow on riverbanks, so the pairing is a natural one.
How the name formed
- welig ford
- Wilford
Related forms: Willford · Wilfred
Pronouncing Wilford
WIL-furd
Two syllables, stress on the first. Wilford and Willford are said identically.
Nicknames for Wilford
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
- 1926276 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #328reached in 1911
- Change vs 2022
- +28.6%9 in 2025, from 7
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.
Wilford in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Willford in English — spelling variant
- Wilfred in English — related form
Wilfords among us
people named Wilford are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 189,786 born in 2025 was named Wilford
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
Wilford 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
Wilford beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Wilford in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is concrete and belongs to a large family of English place names.
- Will and Ford are two short forms, both with real currency.
- A real English village stands behind it.
- Wilfred is close enough to be confused constantly and has a different origin.
- It reads as a surname before it reads as a given name.
- It is strongly period-coded to the early twentieth century.
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Wilford
Masculine · #8243 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Wilfords are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,100 people named Wilford are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Wilford in 2025?
- Wilford ranks #8243 among US boy names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Wilford?
- About 1 in every 189,786 US boys born in 2025 was named Wilford — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Wilford with classmates?
- Wilford will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Wilford
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Danial#8243 · Ogden#8243 · Aaren#8243 · Trinity#8243 · Kourtney#8243 · Maury#8243 · Lindon#8243 · Elbert#8243
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Wilford? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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