Hiliary
A feminine name derived from the Latin word "hilaris", meaning "cheerful".
Name Census estimates that about 133 living Americans carry the first name Hiliary. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hiliary today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hiliary births was 1989 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hiliary. 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.
People living today
133
~ 1 in 2,577,100 Americans
Peak year
1989
16 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
1992 SSA rank
#9,805
Tracked since 1978
Census
Hiliary in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 187 people with the first name Hiliary, which placed it at #40,012 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
#40,012
National first-name rank
People counted
187
187 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hiliary
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hiliary is White at 75.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.9%) and Hispanic (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 Hiliary 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 Hiliary at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.4% · 141
- Black or African American13.9% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 7
- Two or more races1.6% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Hiliary: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hiliary from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 94 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Hiliary remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hiliary 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 Hiliary 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 Hiliary
The name Hiliary has its origins in the Latin language and culture, dating back to ancient Roman times. It is derived from the Latin word "hilaris," meaning "cheerful" or "merry." The name was initially used as a surname or cognomen in ancient Rome, referring to a person's cheerful or joyful disposition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hiliary can be found in the writings of the Roman philosopher and statesman, Cicero, who lived in the 1st century BC. He mentioned a person named "Hilarius" in his works, indicating that the name was in use during that time period.
As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, the name Hiliary gained popularity among early Christians. One of the most notable figures bearing this name was Saint Hilary of Poitiers, a Bishop and Doctor of the Church who lived in the 4th century AD. He was a staunch defender of the Trinitarian doctrine and played a crucial role in the Council of Nicaea.
During the Middle Ages, the name Hiliary became more widespread across Europe, particularly in regions influenced by Latin culture and the Catholic Church. Several historical figures bore this name, including Hilary of Arles, a 5th-century Bishop of Arles, and Hilary of Chichester, a 13th-century English saint and Bishop of Chichester.
In the Renaissance period, the name Hiliary gained further prominence. One notable figure was Hilary Duff, an English poet and writer who lived in the 16th century. Another was Hilary White, an English Catholic mystic and writer from the 17th century.
Later in history, several influential individuals carried the name Hiliary. Hilary Mantel, a British writer and two-time winner of the Booker Prize, was born in 1952. Hilary Swank, an American actress known for her roles in films like "Million Dollar Baby" and "Boys Don't Cry," was born in 1974 and has won two Academy Awards.
Other notable figures with the name Hiliary include Hilary Putnam, an American philosopher and mathematician (1926-2016), Hilary Hahn, an American violinist born in 1979, and Hilary Benn, a British politician and former Secretary of State for International Development, born in 1953.
Throughout its long history, the name Hiliary has maintained its association with cheerfulness, joy, and a positive disposition, reflecting its Latin roots and the influence of early Christian figures who bore this name.
People
Hiliary + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hiliary 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
Hiliary: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hiliary?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 133 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hiliary 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 2,577,100 US residents.
Is Hiliary a common name?
We classify Hiliary as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 141 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hiliary most popular?
The single biggest year for Hiliary was 1989, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hiliary is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hiliary in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 187 people with the name Hiliary, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,012 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 Hiliary 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 Hiliary?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hiliary leans strongly female. 169 people counted with this name were female (91.4%), compared with 16 male bearers (8.6%). 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 Hiliary?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hiliary is White at 75.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.9%) and Hispanic (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 Hiliary most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hiliary in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.4% (141 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 Hiliary in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hiliary a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hiliary in the SSA data are female. 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 Hiliary still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hiliary 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 Hiliary 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 people are called Hiliary?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.