Wilder
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Meaning
wild, untamed
The story
Wilder is exactly the word it looks like, an English surname and now a bold given name meaning wild, untamed, free. It reads as an invitation to a spirited, adventurous life. As a surname it carries a remarkable run of talent: Laura Ingalls Wilder, who turned the American frontier into Little House on the Prairie, Thornton Wilder, who wrote Our Town, the beloved comic actor Gene Wilder, and the great director Billy Wilder. So a name that means untamed also carries a lineage of storytellers. Brand new as a first name, Wilder has climbed fast in the United States and reads as current as it has ever been, at the leading edge of adventurous surname names. Free-spirited and confident, Wilder hands a child a single word that dares them to be a little untamed, and a shelf of great American stories to grow into.
How popular is Wilder around the world?
In the United States, 5,178 babies were named Wilder between 2020 and 2025.
Wilder is on the official records of the United States, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, Montevideo, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 4,200
In the United States, 5,178 babies were named Wilder between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Wilder peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 5,500
In Canada, 59 boys named Wilder were born in 2024, the 496th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Ireland
1 in 11,000
In Ireland, 5 boys named Wilder were born in 2025, the 577th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
1 in 15,000
In Scotland, 3 boys named Wilder were registered in 2024, the 727th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 16,000
In England and Wales, 31 boys named Wilder were born in 2025, the 976th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Montevideo City
1 in 25,0002011
In Montevideo, 1 boy named Wilder was born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Brazil
1 in 140,000
At the 2022 census, 1,426 people in Brazil were named Wilder, ranked 6,491st, with a median age of 32.
Among people named Wilder living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 20 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 140,000
In Spain, 311 residents are named Wilder, ranked 3,265th among men, with a mean age of 41.2 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
last on record 2020
Wilder is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
New Zealand
last on record 2023
Wilder is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Not on the record in Mexico City, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Wilder
Most people given the name Wilder in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Wilder deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Wilder truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Wilder fits with your family’s names and surname.
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