ninan.org

Wilder

Boys' name · Current revival

Living in the US
~8,600 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#429 among boys
Births in 2025
786 8,835 since 1880
Typical age
4 years, median

Wilder popularity over time

Wilder rank by birth year, 1914–2025Wilder ranked #2,271 in 1914 and #429 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #366, in 2021.#1,000#429192019401960198020002020
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1914–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

Wilder was used most in 2021, when 978 babies were given the name. 1914 is the earliest year with at least five recorded births. It reaches the top 1,000 in 11 years of the record.

As of 2025 the name sits at #429, with 786 births that year. Over ten years the count has risen 3.3×. It slipped 39 places against the previous year.

Babies named Wilder per yearPeaks at 978 births in 2021.978 in 20210192019401960198020002020
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Wilder?

Roughly 8,600 Wilders are alive in the US right now. SSA has recorded 8,835 births under the name since 1880. The split is about 610 women and 8,000 men.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Wilder?

Median age among living Wilders: 4. Most living bearers were born in the 2020s. By the site’s era rules that makes Wilder a current revival name.

Your Wilder

Ages of living people named WilderHalf of living Wilders are older than 4 and half younger.median 4020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Wilder is most common

Relative to births, Vermont carries 7.5× the national share of Wilders. Maine, Montana and South Dakota follow.

Where Wilder is used more than average5 states use the name Wilder more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: 5.2× the national rateMEVermont: 7.5× the national rateVTNew Hampshire: 3.1× the national rateNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: 3.7× the national rateMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: 3.5× the national rateSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Wilder is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Vermont 38 7.5×
Maine 80 5.2×
Montana 49 3.7×
South Dakota 49 3.5×
New Hampshire 52 3.1×

Is Wilder a boy's or a girl's name?

7% girls93% boys
Share of all recorded US births under this name, 1880 to the latest year.

Mostly given to boys: 7.7% of the last ten years of births were girls. Across the whole record, 7.2% of births under the name were girls.

Wilder in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Wilder ranked #976 in 2025 on 36 births. That is 57% higher than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Notable people named Wilder

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Wilder Penfield Canadian neurosurgeon, college football player and coach 1891–1976 27
Wilder Cartagena Peruvian footballer 1994 21
Wilder Viera Paraguayan footballer 2002 11
Wilder Guisao Colombian association football player 1991 8
Photo credits (2)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Wilder

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/wilder.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).