Hildie
A diminutive feminine form of the Germanic name Hild, meaning "battle" or "war".
Name Census estimates that about 15 living Americans carry the first name Hildie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hildie today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hildie births was 1957 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hildie. 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 Hildie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
15
~ 1 in 22,850,289 Americans
Peak year
1957
7 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,070
Tracked since 1957
Popularity
Hildie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hildie from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 10 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hildie 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 Hildie 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 Hildie
The name Hildie is a diminutive form of the German name Hildegard, which is derived from the Old High German words "hild" meaning "battle" and "gard" meaning "guard" or "enclosure." It can be translated to mean "battle enclosure" or "one who guards the battle."
The name Hildegard has its roots in the 8th century and was particularly popular among Germanic tribes during the Middle Ages. It was borne by several notable historical figures, including Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), a German Benedictine abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, and visionary.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Hildie is from the 12th century, when it was used as a shortened form of Hildegard. Hildie was particularly popular in Germanic-speaking regions of Europe during the medieval and Renaissance periods.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Hildie. These include Hildie Baker (1892-1986), an American actress and vaudeville performer; Hildie Trueblood (1895-1984), an American author and journalist; Hildie Langer (1901-1999), a German-American painter and printmaker; Hildie Steuart (1907-1989), an American actress and dancer; and Hildie Hanson (1911-2002), an American singer and actress.
While the name Hildie has its roots in Germanic languages, it has been used across various cultures and regions over the centuries, reflecting the widespread influence of Germanic languages and cultures throughout Europe and beyond.
People
Hildie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hildie 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
Hildie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hildie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hildie 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 22,850,289 US residents.
Is Hildie a common name?
We classify Hildie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 35.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hildie most popular?
The single biggest year for Hildie was 1957, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hildie is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Hildie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hildie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hildie 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 Hildie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hildie 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 Hildie 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Hildie?
Want to know how many Americans are named Hildie? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.