Contents [hide]

Wilde History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Wilde History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Germany

The history of the Wilde family name begins in the German province of Bavaria. Wilde is a nickname surname, a class of German names derived from eke-names, or added names, that described people by a personal characteristic or other attribute. Wilde is a name for a person who was extremely wild and passionate. The surname Wilde is derived from the German word wild, which means the same in English.

Early Origins of the Wilde family

The surname Wilde was first found in Bavaria, where the name contributed greatly to the development of an emerging nation that would later play an important role in the tribal and national conflicts of the area. The Wiltz variant claim descendancy from the eponymous Wiltz, a city in north-western Luxembourg, capital of the canton Wiltz, home of the Wiltz Castle which belonged to the former Counts of Wiltz.

Early History of the Wilde family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wilde research. Another 130 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1573 and 1855 are included under the topic Early Wilde History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wilde Spelling Variations

In the medieval era, many different cultural groups lived in the German states. There are thus many regional variations of German surnames from that era. Westphalians spoke Low German, which is similar to modern Dutch. Many German names carry suffixes that identify where they came from. Others have phrases attached that identify something about the original bearer. Other variations in German names resulted from the fact that medieval scribes worked without the aid of any spelling rules. The spelling variations of the name Wilde include Wilder, Wildt, Wilde, Wild, Wilt, Wildter and others.

Early Notables of the Wilde family

Prominent among members of the name Wilde in this period include

Rudolf Ewald Friedrich Wilhelm Wilde, who was the lieutenant of the 2nd infantry regiment of the Prussia army and was ennobled in 1855 in reward for his outstanding service and bravery

Wilde Ranking

In the United States, the name Wilde is the 3,013^rd most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 1 However, in the United Kingdom, the name Wilde is ranked the 886^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,728 people with that name. 2

Wilde migration to the United States +

Thousands of German settlers came to North America between the mid-17th and mid-20th centuries. The hardships of the long voyage were balanced by the opportunity to escape poverty and religious persecution. The descendents of these settlers still populate the states of Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Illinois, and California. Many also live in Ontario and the prairie provinces of Canada. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families has revealed a number of immigrants bearing the name Wilde or a variant listed above:

Wilde Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Alice Wilde, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1635
John Wilde, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1635
George Wilde, who settled in Massachusetts in 1635
William Wilde, who arrived in Rowley, Massachusetts in 1643 3
Abraham Wilde, who landed in Maryland in 1670 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Wilde Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Edward Wilde, who landed in Virginia in 1714 3
Peter Wilde, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1727
John Wilde, who arrived in Virginia in 1756
John Wilde, who arrived in Maryland in 1771 3

Wilde Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Hannah Wilde, who settled in Richmond, VA in 1820
Isaac S Wilde, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1833 3
Marg Wilde, who landed in America in 1843 3
A Cath Wilde, who arrived in America in 1845 3
Johann Bernard Wilde, aged 33, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1846 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Wilde migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Wilde Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Edward Wilde, (b. 1802), aged 17, Irish cotton spinner from Dublin who was convicted in Lancaster, Lancashire, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Canada" on 23rd April 1819, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 4
Mr. Samuel Wilde, British Convict who was convicted in Lancaster, Lancashire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Dunvegan Castle" on 13th March 1830, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 5
Mr. John Wilde, English convict who was convicted in Wiltshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Eliza" on 2nd February 1831, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 6
Mr. William Wilde, English convict who was convicted in Lancaster, Lancashire, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Aurora" on 3rd November 1833, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
Richard Wilde, who arrived in Kangaroo Island aboard the ship "Lady Mary Pelham" in 1836 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Wilde migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Wilde Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Anne E. Wilde, aged 27, a housemaid, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Ionic" in 1884

Wilde migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 9

Wilde Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Richard Wilde, who settled in Barbados in 1679

Contemporary Notables of the name Wilde (post 1700) +

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Will Wilde (1854-1900), Irish poet, dramatist, and novelist, probably best remembered for his "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1895) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
Olivia Wilde (b. 1984), stage name of Olivia Jane Cockburn, American actress who took her stage name from Irish author Oscar Wilde, best known for her roles in the television series House (2007-2012), Tron: Legacy (2010), Cowboys and Aliens (2011) and more
Lee Wilde (1922-2015), American singer, member of The Wilde Twins, sister to Lyn Wilde
Lyn Wilde (1922-2016), American singer, member of The Wilde Twins, sister to Lee Wilde
Cornel Wilde (1915-1989), American actor and film director
Mary Lyn Wilde (b. 1922), and Marion Lee, American identical twins, singers and actresses in musicals
Percival Wilde (1887-1953), American author and dramatist
Samuel Sumner Wilde (d. 1855), American politician, Justice of Massachusetts State Supreme Court, 1815-50 10
Samuel Wilde, American politician, Member of New Jersey State House of Assembly from Essex County, 1872-73 10
Richard Henry Wilde (1789-1847), American Democratic Party politician, Georgia State Attorney General, 1811-13; U.S. Representative from Georgia at-large, 1815-17, 1825, 1827-35 10
... (Another 17 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 9th December 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/canada
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 12th August 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/dunvegan-castle
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 28th February 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eliza
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 20th August 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/aurora
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) LADY MARY PELHAM 1836. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1836LadyMaryPelham.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 20) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html