Entry № 2724 · 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.

The name in its native script.

Hild
Transliteration
Hild
Pronunciation
/ hɪld /
Root
Grammatical form

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