Hilmer
A masculine name of Germanic origin, derived from "hilm" meaning "helmet".
Name Census estimates that about 41 living Americans carry the first name Hilmer. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hilmer today is around 83 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hilmer births was 1917 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hilmer. 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 Hilmer is about 83 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Hilmers were born before 1953.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hilmer. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
41
~ 1 in 8,359,862 Americans
Peak year
1917
28 babies that year
Average age
83
years old
2005 SSA rank
#12,093
Tracked since 1888
Census
Hilmer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 200 people with the first name Hilmer, which placed it at #38,397 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
#38,397
National first-name rank
People counted
200
200 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
51.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hilmer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hilmer is Hispanic at 51.5%. The next largest groups are White (42.5%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Hilmer 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 Hilmer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino51.5% · 103
- White42.5% · 85
- Black or African American5.0% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Hilmer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hilmer from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 201 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
Hilmer 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 Hilmer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hilmers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, Minnesota, North Dakota recorded the most babies named Hilmer, while Wisconsin, North Dakota, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hilmer
The given name Hilmer has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically Old Saxon. It is a compound name derived from the elements "hildi" meaning "battle" and "mari" meaning "famous" or "renowned". The name can be interpreted as "famous in battle" or "renowned warrior".
The name first appeared in written records during the early medieval period, around the 8th to 10th centuries, when it was used among the Saxon tribes of present-day northern Germany and the Netherlands. Similar spelling variations found in historical texts include Hildmar, Hildimaer, and Hildemar.
In the 11th century, the name is recorded in the Codex Traditionum Westfalicarum, a collection of medieval charters and documents from the region of Westphalia in Germany. This suggests that the name was in use among the nobility and landowners of the area during that time.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Hilmer was Hilmer von Lüneburg, a German knight who lived in the 12th century and participated in the Third Crusade. He is mentioned in the chronicles of Arnold of Lübeck, a medieval chronicler.
In the 13th century, Hilmer Unruh was a prominent Frisian chieftain and rebel leader who fought against the Danish king Valdemar II Sejr. He is recorded in the Icelandic sagas and other Scandinavian historical sources.
Another notable bearer of the name was Hilmer von Arlon, a 14th-century Flemish nobleman and military commander who served under the Duke of Brabant. He is mentioned in the chronicles of Jean Froissart, a medieval historian and writer.
In the 16th century, Hilmer Bock was a German Renaissance scholar and humanist who taught at the University of Wittenberg. He was a contemporary of Martin Luther and played a role in the Protestant Reformation.
During the 17th century, Hilmer Cederholm was a Swedish military officer and member of the Privy Council of Sweden. He participated in the Thirty Years' War and is mentioned in Swedish historical records from that period.
People
Hilmer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hilmer 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
Hilmer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hilmer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 41 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hilmer 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 8,359,862 US residents.
Is Hilmer a common name?
We classify Hilmer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 499 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hilmer most popular?
The single biggest year for Hilmer was 1917, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hilmer is about 83 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hilmer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 200 people with the name Hilmer, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,397 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 Hilmer 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 Hilmer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hilmer leans strongly male. 184 people counted with this name were male (91.5%), compared with 17 female bearers (8.5%). 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 Hilmer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hilmer is Hispanic at 51.5%. The next largest groups are White (42.5%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Hilmer most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Hilmer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.5% (103 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 Hilmer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hilmer a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hilmer 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 Hilmer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hilmer 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 Hilmer 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 have the name Hilmer?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Hilmer on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.