Hilda
A feminine given name of Germanic origin meaning "battle woman" or "fighter".
Name Census estimates that about 19,724 living Americans carry the first name Hilda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hilda today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hilda births was 1921 (2,137 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hilda. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Hilda with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Hilda is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 178 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Hilda have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
20K
~ 1 in 17,378 Americans
Peak year
1921
2,137 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
1983 SSA rank
#3,053
Tracked since 1880
Census
Hilda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 54,734 people with the first name Hilda, which placed it at #844 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
#844
National first-name rank
People counted
55K
54,734 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
18.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
66.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hilda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hilda is Hispanic at 66.9%. The next largest groups are White (24.0%) and Black (6.3%). 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 Hilda 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 Hilda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino66.9% · 36,616
- White24.0% · 13,151
- Black or African American6.3% · 3,435
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 975
- Two or more races0.6% · 342
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 215
Gender
Gender distribution for Hilda
Out of the 81,143 babies given the name Hilda since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Hilda as a male name
- Ranked #5,753 in 1983
- 6 male births in 1983
- Peak: 1926 (11 births)
Hilda as a female name
- Ranked #3,053 in 2024
- 53 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1921 (2,128 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hilda appears almost entirely female. Of the 54,736 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Hilda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hilda from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 18,251 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hilda 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 Hilda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hildas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. New York, Texas, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Hilda, while Wyoming, Utah, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,314 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hilda
The name Hilda is of Old Germanic origin, derived from the elements "hild" meaning "battle" and "hild" meaning "combat" or "war." It was a popular name among the Anglo-Saxons and was widely used in England during the Middle Ages.
The earliest recorded use of the name Hilda can be traced back to the 7th century. St. Hilda of Whitby (614-680 AD) was an influential Anglo-Saxon nun and abbess who established one of the first monasteries in England. She played a significant role in the spread of Christianity in the region and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and Anglican churches.
Another notable figure bearing the name Hilda is Hilda of Calshot (c. 1040-c. 1110), an English noblewoman who founded the Benedictine nunnery of Wilton Abbey in Wiltshire, England. The abbey became a center of learning and culture during the 12th century.
In the literary world, Hilda is a character in the novel "The Portent" by George MacDonald (1824-1905), a renowned Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister. The novel, published in 1864, explores themes of faith, redemption, and moral growth.
Another notable Hilda is Hilda Hewlett (1864-1943), a British painter and illustrator who was part of the Arts and Crafts movement. She is best known for her illustrations in children's books, including works by authors such as Rudyard Kipling and Frances Hodgson Burnett.
In the realm of music, Hilda Trolander (1892-1976) was a Swedish soprano who had a successful career in opera and concert performances. She was particularly renowned for her interpretations of works by Richard Wagner and made numerous recordings throughout her career.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Hilda throughout history. The name has endured over centuries, transcending cultural and geographical boundaries, and continues to be used in various parts of the world today.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Hilda
People
Hilda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hilda 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
Hilda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hilda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 19,724 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hilda 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 17,378 US residents.
Is Hilda a common name?
We classify Hilda as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 81,143 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hilda most popular?
The single biggest year for Hilda was 1921, when 2,137 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hilda is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hilda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 54,734 people with the name Hilda, or 18.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #844 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 Hilda 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 Hilda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hilda appears almost entirely female. Of the 54,736 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Hilda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hilda is Hispanic at 66.9%. The next largest groups are White (24.0%) and Black (6.3%). 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 Hilda most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Hilda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.9% (36,616 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 Hilda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hilda a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Hilda 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 Hilda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hilda 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 Hilda 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 called Hilda?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.