Hilliard
Hills of ardour (or strength).
Name Census estimates that about 550 living Americans carry the first name Hilliard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hilliard today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hilliard births was 1920 (53 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hilliard. 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 Hilliard is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Hilliards were born before 1966.
People living today
550
~ 1 in 623,190 Americans
Peak year
1920
53 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1991 SSA rank
#8,706
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Hilliard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hilliard from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 408 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
Hilliard 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 Hilliard during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hilliards live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama recorded the most babies named Hilliard, while Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hilliard
The name Hilliard has its origins in the Germanic languages, derived from the elements "hild" meaning battle, and "hard" meaning hardy or brave. It was a popular name among the ancient Germanic tribes, particularly the Franks and the Saxons, during the early medieval period.
The earliest recorded use of the name Hilliard can be traced back to the 8th century, when it appeared in the Frankish Annals, a series of historical records written by Carolingian scholars documenting the reign of Charlemagne and his successors. The name was particularly popular among the Frankish nobility and was often given to sons born into noble families.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Hilliard was Hilliard of Auxerre, a Frankish nobleman and military commander who lived in the 9th century. He is noted for his role in defending the city of Auxerre against Viking raids and his service under King Charles the Bald.
In the 11th century, the name Hilliard gained prominence in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. It was brought to the island by Norman settlers and became a common name among the Anglo-Norman nobility. One notable bearer of the name during this period was Hilliard of Burgundy, a Norman knight who accompanied William the Conqueror to England and fought in the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
During the Middle Ages, the name Hilliard was also popular in Germany and other parts of central Europe. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Hilliard of Fulda, a Benedictine monk and scholar who lived in the 9th century and served as the abbot of the Fulda Monastery in present-day Germany.
In the 16th century, the name Hilliard gained prominence in England through the work of the renowned Renaissance artist Nicholas Hilliard, who served as a court painter to Queen Elizabeth I. Born in 1537, Hilliard was renowned for his miniature portraits of the English nobility and is considered one of the most accomplished artists of the Elizabethan era.
Other notable historical figures who bore the name Hilliard include Hilliard de Guignicourt, a French knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War and was captured at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415; Hilliard de Cambrai, a 12th-century French trouvère and composer; and Hilliard Constable, an English writer and traveler who lived in the 16th century and authored several works on his travels through Europe and the Middle East.
People
Hilliard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hilliard 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
Hilliard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hilliard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 550 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hilliard 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 623,190 US residents.
Is Hilliard a common name?
We classify Hilliard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,859 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hilliard most popular?
The single biggest year for Hilliard was 1920, when 53 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hilliard is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Hilliard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hilliard 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.
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.