Wild
A surname that usually began as a nickname for someone seen as wild, fierce, or uncultivated.
The #4,324 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 37,574 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Wild comes from Old English wilde, meaning untamed, savage, or uncultivated. As a surname, it most often began as a descriptive nickname for a person thought to be fierce, unruly, or rough in manner. Some 19th-century writers also noted possible confusion with local names or with references to a weald, but the nickname sense is the main and best-attested explanation.
History
This is an old English surname, with early medieval examples already recorded in historical documents. It remained straightforwardly understandable in English because the word itself stayed in common use. The spelling Wilde is an older or alternative form that appears often in records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Richard Wilde, a 16th-century English composer and organist, is one of the better-known historical bearers of the name.
From the historical record
“W,'l:c§XEN}^-Wilcockson.q,v. WILD "I (Eng.) 1 Savage, Fierce, Un- WILDEJ GOVERNED [M.E. wild{e, wyld{e, O.E. wilde] Walter le Wilde.— iJuMif. Rolls. "2 Dweller at a Weald [O.E. weald, forest] Here the form of the name shows that there has been confusion with M.E.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)