Given name · also Germanic
Wilfrid
“one who wishes for peace”
Wilfrid is a variant of Wilfred. One English interpretation is “one who wishes for peace.”
Original Old EnglishWilfriþ
Meaning & origin
What it means
Wilfrid is a variant of Wilfred. One English interpretation is “one who wishes for peace.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
This spelling has been associated with Old English and Germanic naming traditions.
How it developed
From Old English Wilfriþ, built from Old English wil (“will”) + friþ (“peace”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1887. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Wilfrid through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,419
- 1,419 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1922
- 57 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 5 in 2020. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 57 in 1922. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 922 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Wilfrid’s family of names
Wilfrid has a short form in Wilf. In French usage, Wilfrid shares a linguistic root with the English form Wilfred. In English usage, Wilfrid continues an earlier form in Wilfriþ.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Wilfrid
- Wilfrid Laurier7th prime minister of Canada (1841-1919)
- Wilfrid VoynichPolish revolutionary, antiquarian, bibliophile, historian and eponym of Voynich manuscript (1865-1930)
- Wilfrid NapierRoman Catholic cardinalborn 1941
- Wilfrid SellarsAmerican philosopher (1912-1989)
- WilfridChristian saint, Bishop of York from 664 to 678634–709
- Wilfrid KaptoumCameroonian association football playerborn 1996
- Wilfrid Scawen BluntBritish poet and writer (1840–1922)
- Wilfrid Hyde-WhiteBritish actor (1903–1991)
- Wilfrid BrambellIrish-born English film and television actor (1912–1985)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Wilfrid, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Willey
“willow”
>99% boys
Wilby
“willow”
>99% boys
Welford
“well, spring, stream”
>99% boys
Wolford
“wolf”
>99% boys
Wilbert
“one who is willful; a bright man”
>99% boys
Wilton
“from the town on the river”
>99% boys
Wentworth
“winter” · “enclosure”
>99% boys
Warne
“to sway, shake, quiver”
>99% boys