Hilde

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 12 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Hilde is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Norwegian Bokmål given name87K records spelled Hilde62 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, Czechia, United States, Poland

  Languages: Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian, Czech

  Also written Hilda, Альда, Хильда, Хилда, Alda

• French given name5.9K records spelled Hilde3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Belgium, United States, Norway

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Hildé

• a separate given name1.3K records spelled Hilde2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium

  Also written Hildé

43 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Hilde is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, short form from hild 'battle'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In German, ) Hilda: alter deutscher weibl.

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In enm, simple past of hilden (“to skin”)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Danish, to blind, captivate, beguile (in certain prejudices or ideas)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Basque, ( O-SP 222 → Dv , H , A ). "Mortalité" O-SP 222. "Mortalité, temps d'épidémie où il meurt quantité de personnes ou d'animaux" H .

  as a word·Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia (OEH) — General/Historical Basque Dictionary, Euskaltzaindia

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

NO SSB — Navn (1880–present) — 75 years between 1945–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Hilde Hildebrandb. 1897DEGerman actress and singer (1897–1976)
• Hilde Mangoldb. 1898DEGerman biologist (1898–1924)
• Hilde Holgerb. 1905GBAustrian British dancer and choreographer (1905-2001)
• Hilde Körberb. 1906ATAustrian actress (1906–1969)
• Hilde Sperlingb. 1908DEGerman-Danish tennis player
• Hilde Dominb. 1909DEGerman writer (1909–2006)
• Hilde Levib. 1909DEGerman physicist (1909–2003)
• Hilde Sessakb. 1915DEGerman actress (1915–2003)
• Hilde Zadekb. 1917DEGerman operatic soprano (1917–2019)
• Hilde Schrammb. 1936DEGerman politician

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 418 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Hilde?

We estimate roughly 26 thousand people bear Hilde (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Hilde have the most bearers?

Hilde is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled hilde.

Where is Hilde most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Hilde is densest in Norway — about 1 in 308 people — even though Germany holds more of our records for it.

How common is Hilde compared with other names?

In Germany, Hilde is the 517th most common given name of 154,506 given names recorded there.

Is Hilde a male or female name?

Hilde is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Hilde mean?

Recorded meaning: Kurzform aus Rufnamen wie Hildebrand/Hildebert/Hildegard; als Familienname kaum belegt (4).