# Wilder (name)

Wilder is an English and German surname, sometimes used as a given name, meaning "untamed" or "wild", a wild, free, or natural state or existence, also passionately eager or enthusiastic.

## People with the given name

* Wilder D. Baker (1890–1975), United States Navy admiral
* Wilder Dwight Bancroft (1867–1953), American chemist
* Wilder Calderón (born 1947), Peruvian politician
* Wilder Cartagena (born 1994), Peruvian footballer
* Wilder W. Crane Jr. (1928–1985), American politician
* Wilder D. Foster (1819–1873), American politician
* Wilder Guisao (born 1991), Colombian footballer
* Wilder W. Hartley (1901–1970), American politician
* Wilder Hobson (1906–1964), American writer and musician
* Wilder Medina (born 1981), Colombian footballer
* Wilder Metcalf (1855–1935), United States Army general and politician
* Wilder Penfield (1891–1976), American-Canadian neurosurgeon
* Wilder Smith (1835–1891), American minister and writer
* Wilder Weir (born 1983), Canadian television host
* Wilder Zabala (born 1982), Bolivian footballer

## People with the surname
### The arts
#### Acting and filmmaking

* Billy Wilder (1906–2002), Austrian-born American film director
* Gene Wilder (1933–2016), American actor
* James Wilder (actor) (born 1968), American film and television actor
* W. Lee Wilder (1904–1982), Austrian-born American screenwriter, film producer and director

#### Literature

* Charlotte Frances Wilder (1839–1916), American writer
* Cherry Wilder, pseudonym of New Zealand writer Cherry Barbara Grimm (1930–2002)
* Effie Wilder (1909–2007), American writer
* Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957), American writer
* Louise Beebe Wilder (1878–1938), American gardening writer
* Rose Wilder Lane (1886–1968), American writer
* Thornton Wilder (1897–1975), American writer

#### Music

* Ace Wilder (born 1982), Swedish singer
* Alan Wilder (born 1959), British electronic musician
* Alec Wilder (1907–1980), American composer and songwriter
* Matthew Wilder (born 1953), American musician
* Webb Wilder (born 1954), American singer-songwriter

### Military and politics

* Abel Carter Wilder (1828–1875), American businessman and politician
* Douglas Wilder (born 1931), American politician, Governor of Virginia
* Harvey A. Wilder (1907–1968), American farmer and politician
* John Shelton Wilder (1921–2010), American politician, Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee
* John T. Wilder (1830–1917), American Civil War general
* Joseph M. Wilder (1918–1990), American politician
* Wilber Elliott Wilder (1857–1952), American brigadier general

### Sports

* Bobby Wilder (born 1964), head coach of the Old Dominion Monarchs football team
* Chris Wilder (born 1967), English football player and manager
* Dash Wilder (born 1987), American professional wrestler
* Deontay Wilder (born 1985), American heavyweight boxer
* George Wilder (cricketer) (1876–1948), English cricketer
* James Wilder Sr. (born 1958), American football running back
* James Wilder Jr. (born 1992), American football running back
* Michael Wilder (born 1962), American chess champion

### Others

* Burt Green Wilder (1841–1925), American comparative anatomist
* Christopher Wilder (1944–1984), American serial rapist and murderer
* Frances Farmer Wilder, American radio executive
* George Wilder (criminal) (born 1962), prison escaper and New Zealand folk hero
* Gertrude B. Wilder (1874–1955), American clubwoman
* Harris Hawthorne Wilder (1864–1928), American zoologist
* Inez Whipple Wilder (1871–1929), American zoologist
* John R. Wilder (1816–1879), American businessman
* J. Welles Wilder, Jr. (1935–2021), American mechanical engineer, best known for his work in technical analysis
* Lynn Wilder (born 1952), American author and professor
* Nicholas Wilder (1937–1989), American art dealer and gallery owner
* Raymond Louis Wilder (1896–1982), American mathematician
* Robert Wilder (disambiguation)
* Russell Morse Wilder (1885–1959), American physician and medical researcher

## Fictional characters

* Alex Wilder, a fictional character appearing in Marvel Comics
* Harry Wilder, a fictional character in the Case Closed
* Wilder (Transformers), a fictional character
* Zelos Wilder, a fictional character in the video game Tales of Symphonia
* Kate Wilder, a fictional character in the video game The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me