Hilyard
From Old English meaning "a guardhouse on a hill".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Hilyard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hilyard today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hilyard births was 1919 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hilyard. 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 Hilyard. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1919
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1919 SSA rank
#4,441
Tracked since 1919
Popularity
Hilyard: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Hilyard 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 Hilyard during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Hilyard
The given name Hilyard is believed to have originated from the Old English words "hil" meaning hill and "geard" meaning yard or enclosure, essentially translating to "hill-yard" or "hill enclosure." This name is rooted in the Anglo-Saxon culture of England, dating back to the 5th to 11th centuries CE.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Hilyard can be traced back to the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as a surname, likely derived from a place name or a descriptive term for someone living near a hill enclosure.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Hilyard de Lacy was mentioned in historical records as a prominent landowner and military commander who fought alongside King Edward I during the Welsh Wars. Hilyard de Lacy played a significant role in the conquest of Wales and was rewarded with lands in Herefordshire.
Another historical figure bearing the name Hilyard was Sir Hilyard Knowles, a 16th-century English soldier and explorer. Born in 1516, Knowles served under Sir Francis Drake and was part of the expeditions that explored the Caribbean and the Americas in the late 1500s.
In the realm of literature, the name Hilyard was immortalized in the works of William Shakespeare. In the play "The Merry Wives of Windsor," a character named Hilyard is mentioned as a servant to Sir John Falstaff.
During the 17th century, a prominent figure named Hilyard Foxe gained recognition as a religious leader and author. Born in 1603, Foxe was a Puritan minister who wrote several influential works on theology and religious practices.
It is noteworthy that the name Hilyard has been relatively uncommon throughout history, with only a handful of notable individuals bearing this given name. While its origins can be traced back to Old English, the name has largely fallen out of widespread use in modern times.
People
Hilyard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hilyard 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
Hilyard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hilyard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hilyard 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 - US residents.
Is Hilyard a common name?
We classify Hilyard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hilyard most popular?
The single biggest year for Hilyard was 1919, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hilyard is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Hilyard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hilyard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hilyard 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 Hilyard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hilyard 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 Hilyard 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Hilyard?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Hilyard at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.