| Hilda | Zelda | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Battle | Battle (grey battle-maid) |
| Origin | germanic | germanic |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | HIL-duh | ZEL-duh |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 0 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1921 (2,128) | 2020 (526) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Trend | Vintage | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Hilda | Zelda |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 316 | 2,561 |
| 2010s | 448 | 2,889 |
| 2000s | 827 | 391 |
| 1990s | 1,362 | 144 |
| 1980s | 1,907 | 154 |
| 1970s | 2,582 | 305 |
| 1960s | 3,596 | 1,265 |
| 1950s | 6,303 | 1,160 |
| 1940s | 7,567 | 1,074 |
| 1930s | 9,454 | 1,650 |
| 1920s | 18,191 | 2,376 |
| 1910s | 15,674 | 1,854 |
| 1900s | 6,783 | 595 |
| 1890s | 4,732 | 254 |
| 1880s | 1,280 | 62 |
Built on the Germanic element 'hild' meaning 'battle'. It began as a short form of longer names such as Hildegard and Brunhild before becoming an independent name.
Commonly a short form of Griselda, from Germanic 'gris' (grey) and 'hild' (battle). A separate Yiddish name Zelda meaning roughly 'blessed/happy' also exists, so the battle sense specifically traces to the Griselda line.
Hilda and Zelda are given to a similar number of US babies today.
Hilda means Battle (germanic origin), while Zelda means Battle (grey battle-maid) (germanic origin).
In US records, Hilda first appears in 0 and Zelda in 0, so Hilda has the longer recorded history.