Hilda

At a Glance: Name: Hilda – Meaning: battle – Origin: Germanic – Gender: Girl – Pronunciation: HIL-dah

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Hilda is a Germanic name, pronounced HIL-dah (/ˈhɪldə/), built from the element hild, meaning battle. You'll often see it glossed as 'battle woman,' but that's not quite accurate — hild is simply used on its own as a short name, with no separate word for 'woman' folded in. It has a vintage feel.

Meaning & Origin of Hilda

Meaning: Battle.

Origin: Germanic.

A common claim: battle woman Actually: Popularly glossed as 'battle woman,' but Hilda is simply the Germanic element hild 'battle' used as a short name — there's no separate word for 'woman' in it.

Source: Wiktionary.

How to Pronounce Hilda

Phonetic: HIL-dah   IPA: /ˈhɪldə/

Popularity of Hilda

Hilda peaked at #87 in 1899, when 621 babies were given the name; by 2024 it had dropped to #3053, with just 53 babies, across SSA records spanning 1880-2024.

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration birth-name data, 1880–2024.

Make Hilda Name Art

Free printable nursery art for Hilda, pre-loaded below — pick a layout, palette, and font, then download a print-ready PNG.

Names With a Similar Story

Derived from shared style, era, and origin data (or, for names we have no style data for, a similar Social Security popularity trajectory) — not a hand-picked list.

• Gertrude
• Hedwig
• Hildegard
• Trudy
• Wilma
• Zelda

FAQ

What does the name Hilda mean?

Battle. (Source: Wiktionary, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hilda)

How do you pronounce Hilda?

Hilda is pronounced HIL-dah (IPA: /ˈhɪldə/).

Is Hilda a popular name right now?

Hilda peaked at #87 in 1899 and is ranked #3053 as of 2024. (U.S. Social Security Administration data, 1880–2024.)

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