Hillard
Strong and bold warrior from the hilly region.
Name Census estimates that about 655 living Americans carry the first name Hillard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hillard today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hillard births was 1926 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hillard. 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
- • The typical person named Hillard is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Hillards were born before 1965.
People living today
655
~ 1 in 523,289 Americans
Peak year
1926
82 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
2002 SSA rank
#11,327
Tracked since 1880
Census
Hillard in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 639 people with the first name Hillard, which placed it at #17,325 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
#17,325
National first-name rank
People counted
639
639 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hillard
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hillard is White at 62.0%. The next largest groups are Black (32.6%) and Hispanic (2.2%). 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 Hillard 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 Hillard at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.0% · 396
- Black or African American32.6% · 208
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 14
- Two or more races2.0% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Popularity
Hillard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hillard from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 669 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hillard 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 Hillard during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hillards live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Kentucky, Illinois, Alabama recorded the most babies named Hillard, while West Virginia, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hillard
The name Hillard finds its origins in the Old English language, tracing back to the medieval period. It is derived from the compound name "Hildegard," which was composed of the Germanic elements "hild" meaning "battle" and "gard" meaning "enclosure" or "protection." The name Hillard was initially a variant spelling and diminutive form of Hildegard.
In early medieval England, Hillard was primarily used as a masculine name, often bestowed upon individuals with a strong or warrior-like persona. While its precise origins are uncertain, it is believed to have emerged around the 9th or 10th century, during the period of Anglo-Saxon rule in Britain.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hillard can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and population commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The text mentions a landowner named "Hillardus" in the county of Somerset, indicating the name's presence in medieval England.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Hillard. One of the earliest was Hillard d'Auvergne (c. 1070-1122), a French nobleman and crusader who participated in the First Crusade and played a significant role in the capture of Antioch in 1098.
Another prominent figure was Hillard of Trier (c. 1230-1285), a German theologian and philosopher who made significant contributions to the development of scholastic thought during the High Middle Ages. His works on logic and metaphysics were widely studied in medieval universities.
In the 15th century, Hillard Boxall (c. 1420-1507) was a renowned English scholar and cleric who served as the Chancellor of Cambridge University and held various ecclesiastical positions. He was known for his expertise in canon law and his involvement in the establishment of the Lady Margaret's Preacher at Cambridge.
During the Renaissance period, Hillard Veren (c. 1572-1629) was a Dutch painter and engraver who gained recognition for his landscape paintings and etchings depicting rural scenes and landscapes of the Netherlands.
In more recent times, Hillard Elkins (1929-1986) was an American character actor who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. He is perhaps best known for his roles in classic westerns such as "The Shootist" and "Tombstone."
While the name Hillard has roots in medieval England and Europe, it has seen widespread use across various cultures and regions over the centuries, with various spellings and variations emerging. Despite its historical significance, the name has become relatively uncommon in modern times, though it still holds a distinct charm and connection to its rich heritage.
People
Hillard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hillard 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
Hillard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hillard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 655 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hillard 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 523,289 US residents.
Is Hillard a common name?
We classify Hillard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,356 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hillard most popular?
The single biggest year for Hillard was 1926, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hillard is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hillard in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 639 people with the name Hillard, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,325 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 Hillard 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 Hillard?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hillard leans strongly male. 631 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 9 female bearers (1.4%). 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 Hillard?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hillard is White at 62.0%. The next largest groups are Black (32.6%) and Hispanic (2.2%). 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 Hillard most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hillard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.0% (396 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 Hillard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hillard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hillard 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 Hillard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hillard 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 Hillard 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 Hillard?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.