Entry № 1022 · Anglo-Saxon origin

Hild Hild — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ HILD /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Anglo-Saxon
Meaning
"Battle (Bede's beloved abbess of Whitby)"
Syllables
1
Rank · US 2025
№ 0
First recorded
Medieval (Anglo-Saxon)

A name that means "battle (bede's beloved abbess of whitby)".

Hild is from the Old English hild (battle). **Saint Hild of Whitby (614-680)** was the Anglo-Saxon princess and **abbess of Whitby Abbey** — Bede called her "mother" of his church. **She presided over the Synod of Whitby (664) that decided the Roman date of Easter for England**, and discovered the poet Cædmon, the first known English poet.

Cited as one of the great unifying figures of early English Christianity.

Battle. Bede's 'mother' of the English church; abbess of Whitby.

Where Hild stands.

Current rank · 2025
№ 0 in the U.S.
All-time peak
№ 0 in 0
Babies named Hild · last year
87 in the U.S.
First entered SSA top-1000
0
Rank, 1995–2025 Lower = more popular
№25 №75 №150 №250 1995 2005 2015 2020 2025 PEAK · — NOW · —

Hilds before her.

Real people
Saint Hild of Whitby
Abbess of Whitby.
614 – 680
In fiction
Hild
Heroine of Nicola Griffith's Hild.
2013

Names connected to Hild.

The number behind Hild.

8

The Authority

Hild reduces to eight — the number of Whitby abbess.

Why families chose this name.

"Whitby abbess. Four letters. Hild."
Catherine · Mother of one · Whitby