Hildred vs Hilma
American parents have registered 2,999 Hilmas since 1880, against 2,825 Hildreds. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Hildred Hilma
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 85 years in which either name was published, Hildred for 44 years and Hilma for 41 years. The lead changed hands 12 times.
- 1880–1910 Hilma ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1911–1913 Hildred ahead
- 1914–1918 Hilma ahead
- 1919–1965 Hildred ahead, apart from 2 short spells
6 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Hildred | Hilma | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,825 | 2,999 |
| Most in one year | 107 | 105 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 330 | 250 |
| Median age today | 82 | 80 |
| Peak year | 1920 | 1915 |
| Best rank | 774th girls | 644th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | unranked |
| First recorded | 1889 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 2,404 / 421 | 2,999 / 0 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Hildreds alive today are over 82; half the Hilmas are over 80. That is 2 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Hildred Maine (8.7×), West Virginia (7.8×), North Carolina (7.0×)
- Hilma North Dakota (17.3×), Minnesota (16.6×), Michigan (4.7×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Hildred and Hilma.