Boy · Old English
Wilfrith
Say it: WIL-frith
Meaning
From Old English wil 'will, desire' and frith 'peace'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Forgotten after the Middle Ages, it was revived in the 19th century by the Catholic and Anglo-Catholic interest in early English saints.
Its wave through time
No birth counts are recorded for this name in the records loaded here: it has been given to fewer than five babies a year, or not at all, since records began.
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Wilfrid, Wilfred
| German | Wilfried |
|---|---|
| Italian | Vilfredo |
Famous bearers
- St Wilfrid, bishop of York
- Wilfred Owen, English war poet
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Anglo-Saxon charters, chronicles and church records
- Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.