Wilder

Wilder sounds like what it is, wind through tall grass and a screen door slamming. Originating as an English and German surname meaning untamed or of the wild, it has been loosened into a first name by a generation of parents drawn to frontier vocabulary. Goldie Hawn named a grandson Wilder; so did Oliver Hudson and Keri Russell, nudging it out of the surname column and into full popularity. Ranked 392 in the U.S., it shares shelf space with Forrest and Rowan. Two syllables, the second trailing like a kite string. Vaguely literary, distinctly outdoorsy, a little mischievous by design.