Wilder
Usually an English surname from the old personal name Wealdhere, though it could also be a nickname or descriptive name linked with “wild.”
The #1,131 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 9,954 Americans shares it.
Etymology
One line of scholarship explains Wilder as continuing the Old English personal name Wealdhere, built from elements meaning “power, rule” and “army,” so the name would originally have meant something like “mighty in battle.” Other 19th-century writers instead connected it with Old English or Saxon words for “wild,” taking it as a nickname or a descriptive surname for someone rustic, untamed, or associated with the woods. The surname may therefore have more than one historical source, with the personal-name derivation usually treated as the main English explanation.
History
The name is found in English records and was later carried to North America, where it remains moderately common. Related forms such as Wild, Wilde, and Wildgoose appear in older surname lists, which shows how easily this surname area overlapped with nickname-based names. Some older authors also mention Wilder as a patronymic source for Wilders or Wilder's.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century surname writer grouped Wilder with names that sounded bold or brisk, alongside Wild, Wilde, and Wildman.
From the historical record
“Wild Goose [O.E. wilde + gds"] WILDER (Eng) represents the common A.-Sax. pers. name Wealdhere = Mighty Army [O.E. ge)weald, power, might -|- here, army] Cp. Walder and Walter. WILDERS, Wilder's (Son) : v. Wilder. WILDERSPIN (Eng.) Dweller by the Wild- Animals' Enclosure [the genit. of O.E. wilder, wildeor, wild…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Wilder
- Billy Wilder (1906–2002)
- Thornton Wilder (1897–1975)
- Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.