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Wilford

#8,868 in 2025Boys' name

Willow ford

Wilford has been given to 10,447 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #8,868 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1926, with 276 recorded.

Babies named Wilford, 2025

1 in 368,000

Wilford over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Wilford: meaning, origin, and history

Willow ford

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Wilford means

Wilford means “willow ford”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 10,442 boys were recorded with the name Wilford between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 276 in 1926; its best national rank was #333 in 1911.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #10,543 in 2020 to #8,868 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #8,000 in 2015 to #8,868 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 girls were recorded with the name Wilford between 1925 and 1925. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1925; its best national rank was #5,746 in 1925.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Wilford?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 368,000
9 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 190,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#8,868
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
255,323 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Wilford sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 255,323 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Wilford. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Wilfords were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Wilford was born before 1932 — so the typical Wilford is around 93 today.

Median birth year
1932
About 93 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
23.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
1.7%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
2,610
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 23.9% of all recorded uses (2,492).

Is Wilford rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+5,292
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+1,675
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−868
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.90×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
3.3%
Peak was 1926 (276)
Years since peak
99
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
32.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#333
1911

Spellings of Wilford

Wilford is not the most common spelling — Willard is, with 54.4% against Wilford's 7.3%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Wilford is used

Across 1910–2025, Wilford was most concentrated in Utah — about 1 in 4,545 boys, against 1 in 25,424 across all states with data. It was least common in Oregon (1 in —).

022 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Utah1 in 4,545
  2. 2West Virginia1 in 7,143
  3. 3Kentucky1 in 10,000
  4. 4Louisiana1 in 10,000
  5. 5Missouri1 in 10,000
  6. 6Alabama1 in 12,500
  7. 7Arkansas1 in 12,500
  8. 8Idaho1 in 12,500

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Wilford has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Wilford around the world

Where Wilford ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2024–2024
    #5,120
    in 2024

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0.

Notable people named Wilford

People whose public names include Wilford, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Wilford by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#8,868
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,675
Best rank ever
#333
1911
Peak year
1926
276 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
10,442
Count in 2025
9

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,746
1925
Peak year
1925
5 that year
First recorded
1925
Last recorded
1925
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Wilford

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

WilfredoWiltonWillianWilderWilfredWilberWilmerWilburnWilliamsWilbertSanfordWilhelmWillamRayfordWillardBufordWillemWileyWilsonStanfordWillisWilburWillyWillford

Names with a curve like Wilford

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Wilford, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

BufordHerschelWilburnOdisLymanClairEarleMerrillRollandCleoWiltonCletus

Sibling names for Wilford

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Wilford

Top names of 1926, Wilford's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1911Boys' names starting with W