Hilder
A feminine name of Germanic origin meaning "battle or war".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Hilder. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 83.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Hilder today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hilder births was 1896 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hilder. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hilder. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1896
6 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2015 SSA rank
#5,417
Tracked since 1896
Census
Hilder in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 163 people with the first name Hilder, which placed it at #43,340 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#43,340
National first-name rank
People counted
163
163 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
69.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hilder
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hilder is Hispanic at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Black (20.2%) and White (6.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Hilder described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Hilder at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino69.9% · 114
- Black or African American20.2% · 33
- White6.1% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Hilder
Hilder leans heavily female at 83.9% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Hilder as a male name
- Ranked #12,789 in 2015
- 5 male births in 2015
- Peak: 2015 (5 births)
Hilder as a female name
- Ranked #5,417 in 1924
- 5 female births in 1924
- Peak: 1896 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hilder on both sides of the split. Of the 163 people counted with this name, 116 were male (71.2%) and 47 were female (28.8%).
Popularity
Hilder: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hilder from the 1890s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 10 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Hilder remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hilder by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Hilder during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hilder
The name Hilder is believed to have originated from Old English, with its roots tracing back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain. It is a compound name formed by combining the elements "hild," meaning battle or war, and "here," meaning army or host. This suggests that the name may have been associated with warriors or military figures in ancient times.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hilder can be found in the Domesday Book, a famous medieval census commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This indicates that the name was in use among the English population during the 11th century.
In terms of historical references, the name Hilder is not prominently featured in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or other notable historical records. However, it may have been used as a personal name by individuals who lived during the Anglo-Saxon period in England.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Hilder. One such figure was Hilder of Bamberg, a German Catholic priest and prelate who lived in the 11th century. He served as the Bishop of Bamberg from 1057 until his death in 1063.
Another individual with the name Hilder was Hilder of Cologne, a German artist and printmaker active in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. He is known for his woodcuts and engravings, which often depicted religious subjects.
In the 17th century, there was a Hilder van Schoten, a Dutch mathematician and engineer who made significant contributions to the field of calculus. He was born in 1605 and died in 1685.
Moving forward in time, Hilder Gardiner was a British artist and illustrator who lived from 1853 to 1925. He is best known for his illustrations in books and magazines, particularly those related to natural history and wildlife.
Lastly, Hilder Karlsson was a Swedish actor and filmmaker who lived from 1909 to 1985. He appeared in numerous films and television productions throughout his career, and also directed several movies in the 1940s and 1950s.
While these are just a few examples, the name Hilder has been borne by individuals from various backgrounds and time periods, reflecting its enduring presence throughout history.
People
Hilder + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hilder as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hilder: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hilder?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hilder going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Hilder a common name?
We classify Hilder as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 31 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hilder most popular?
The single biggest year for Hilder was 1896, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hilder is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hilder in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 163 people with the name Hilder, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,340 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Hilder in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Hilder?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hilder on both sides of the split. Of the 163 people counted with this name, 116 were male (71.2%) and 47 were female (28.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Hilder?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hilder is Hispanic at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Black (20.2%) and White (6.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Hilder most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Hilder in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.9% (114 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Hilder in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hilder a female name?
Yes, 83.9% of people registered as Hilder in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Hilder still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hilder in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Hilder can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Hilder?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.