How common is the surname Wilder?

31,018 people in the United States had the surname Wilder in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,954 Americans. It ranked 1,131st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Wilder?

Billy Wilder, Austrian and American filmmaker (1906–2002), followed by Thornton Wilder.

Where is the surname Wilder most common?

Wikidata records people named Wilder in the United States, Cisleithania and Australia.

Is the surname Wilder getting more or less common?

More common. 30,023 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 31,018 in 2010, up 3.3%.

The surname Wilder

A surname, carried by 31,018 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex W436

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Wilder is more common than 99.3% of them.

Origin

A surname.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 31,018 people named Wilder in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 9,954 Americans. That is up 3.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 30,023.

#1,131

rank among US surnames

31,018

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+3.3%

change since 2000 (was #1,067)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,122	Rodrigues	31,280	9,870
#1,123	Wooten	31,249	9,880
#1,124	Hartley	31,221	9,889
#1,125	Ng	31,210	9,893
#1,126	Kendall	31,209	9,893
#1,127	Cleveland	31,123	9,920
#1,128	Crowley	31,098	9,928

Who is named Wilder

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

68% of people named Wilder identified as white (not Hispanic), 26% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.2% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 68%
Black (not Hispanic) 26%
Two or more races 2.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Wilders

14 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Billy Wilder
Austrian and American filmmaker (1906–2002)
Thornton Wilder
American playwright and novelist (1897–1975)
Laura Ingalls Wilder
American children's writer, diarist, and journalist (1867-1957)
Deontay Wilder
American boxer, born 1985
Rose Wilder Lane
American journalist (1886–1968)
Douglas Wilder
American politician, born 1931
Matthew Wilder
American musician, born 1953
W. Lee Wilder
American film director (1904–1982)
Christopher Wilder
Australian serial killer (1945–1984)
Michael Wilder
American chess grandmaster, born 1962
Joe Wilder
American trumpeter (1922-2014)
James Wilder
American actor, born 1968

Notable Wilders come mostly from the United States (12), Cisleithania (1) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Wilder

Wilder has the Soundex code W436, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W436.

Questions

How common is the surname Wilder?: 31,018 people in the United States had the surname Wilder in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,954 Americans. It ranked 1,131st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Wilder?: In the 2010 Census, 68% of people named Wilder identified as white (not Hispanic), and 26% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Wilder?: Billy Wilder, Austrian and American filmmaker (1906–2002), followed by Thornton Wilder.
Where is the surname Wilder most common?: Wikidata records people named Wilder in the United States, Cisleithania and Australia.
Is the surname Wilder getting more or less common?: More common. 30,023 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 31,018 in 2010, up 3.3%.