Given name & surname
Hilding
“ruler, war chief”
Hilding is a masculine given name from Old Norse, meaning “ruler, war chief.” It is used in Swedish.
Meaning & origin
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1892. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Hilding through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 191
- 191 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1915
- 17 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 7 in 1941. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 275 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Hilding’s family of names
In Swedish usage, Hilding shares a linguistic root with the Finnish form HILTUNEN.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Hilding
- Hilding RosenbergSwedish modernist composer (1892-1985)
- Hilding EkmanSwedish long-distance runner (1893-1966)
- Hilding HagbergSwedish communist politician (1899-1993)
- Hilding GavleSwedish actor (1901-1969)
- Hilding HallnäsSwedish composer1903–1984
- Hilding KöhlerSwedish meteorologist (1888–1982)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Hilding, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Holger
“island” · “spear”
>99% boys
Helge
“a holy woman; one who is successful” · “one who is productive and happy”
>99% boys
Ingram
“a raven of peace”
>99% boys
Wilby
“willow”
>99% boys
Haldor
“of the thunderous rock”
>99% boys
Ingvald
Ingvald is a masculine given name from Old Norse. It is used in Norwegian.
>99% boys
Ahti
“wealth, property”
>99% boys
Hjalmar
“one who wears an army helmet”
>99% boys