Wylder is a modern spelling of Wilder, an English surname that goes back to the word wild and means "wild" or "untamed". The surname is known through the author Laura Ingalls Wilder and the playwright Thornton Wilder, and the y spelling gives it a rugged, Western look like Ryder and Wyatt. In the United States Wylder was number 2639 in 2015, entered the top 1000 in 2021 and has climbed to 671 in 2025, its best rank so far.