Hilarion
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "cheerful" or "merry".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Hilarion. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hilarion today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hilarion births was 1918 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hilarion. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hilarion. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1918
5 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2004 SSA rank
#12,016
Tracked since 1918
Census
Hilarion in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 440 people with the first name Hilarion, which placed it at #22,573 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#22,573
National first-name rank
People counted
440
440 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
64.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hilarion
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hilarion is Hispanic at 64.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (24.5%) and Black (4.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Hilarion described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Hilarion at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino64.3% · 283
- Asian and Pacific Islander24.5% · 108
- Black or African American4.8% · 21
- White3.9% · 17
- Two or more races1.8% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3
Popularity
Hilarion: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hilarion from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hilarion by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Hilarion during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hilarion
The name Hilarion has its origins in the Greek language and culture. It is derived from the Greek word "hilaros", meaning cheerful or joyful. The name can be traced back to ancient Greece and the early Christian era.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Hilarion is in reference to a Christian saint from the 4th century AD. Saint Hilarion was born in Palestine around 291 AD and is known as the founder of monasticism in Palestine. He lived as a hermit and established several monasteries in the region.
Another notable figure with the name Hilarion was a Byzantine monk and author who lived in the 12th century AD. Hilarion of Briansk was born in Russia around 1120 and is known for his writings on monastic life and spiritual guidance.
In the 16th century, Hilarion Rhutenian was a prominent figure in the Catholic Church. He was born in Lithuania around 1500 and served as the Archbishop of Polotsk, a region that is now part of Belarus. He played a significant role in the Counter-Reformation and the promotion of the Union of Brest.
The name Hilarion also appeared in the Russian imperial family. Hilarion Vasilchikov was a noble and statesman who lived from 1776 to 1847. He served as the Minister of State Properties under Tsar Alexander I and was known for his contributions to the development of the Russian Empire.
In more recent history, Hilarion Alfeyev is a prominent figure in the Russian Orthodox Church. Born in 1966, he is a bishop, theologian, and composer. He has written extensively on Orthodox theology and has composed numerous works of sacred music.
While the name Hilarion has its roots in the Greek language and early Christian history, it has been used across various cultures and regions over the centuries. The name is often associated with religious figures and monastic life, reflecting its connection to the concept of joy and cheerfulness.
People
Hilarion + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hilarion as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hilarion: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hilarion?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hilarion going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Hilarion a common name?
We classify Hilarion as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hilarion most popular?
The single biggest year for Hilarion was 1918, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hilarion is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hilarion in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 440 people with the name Hilarion, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,573 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Hilarion in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Hilarion?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hilarion appears almost entirely male. Of the 445 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Hilarion?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hilarion is Hispanic at 64.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (24.5%) and Black (4.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Hilarion most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Hilarion in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.3% (283 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Hilarion in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hilarion a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hilarion in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Hilarion still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hilarion in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Hilarion can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Hilarion?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.