Find out how popular the last name Hilaire is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Hilaire.

Hilaire, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Hilaire surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hilaire in America

Hilaire is the 16919th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hilaire surname appeared 1,682 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Hilaire.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hilaire to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Hilaire

The surname HILAIRE is of French origin, derived from the Latin personal name Hilarius, meaning 'cheerful' or 'joyful'. It emerged in the Middle Ages and was particularly common in the regions of Normandy and Brittany in France.

The name is believed to have first appeared in written records as early as the 11th century, with one of the earliest known references being found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded landowners in England after the Norman Conquest.

In the 12th century, a notable figure bearing this surname was Hilaire of Poitiers, a French bishop and theologian who lived from around 1100 to 1169. He is renowned for his writings on the doctrine of the Trinity and his efforts to combat heresy.

Another prominent individual with this surname was Pierre Hilaire, a 16th-century French mathematician and astronomer who lived from 1522 to 1590. He made significant contributions to the development of algebraic notation and the study of conic sections.

During the 17th century, Jean-Baptiste Hilaire, born in 1653 and died in 1722, was a French architect and engineer known for his work on fortifications and military architecture.

In the 19th century, Isidore Hilaire Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, born in 1772 and died in 1844, was a renowned French naturalist and zoologist. He is particularly notable for his contributions to the field of comparative anatomy and his role in the famous debate with Georges Cuvier over evolutionary theory.

Moving into the 20th century, Marcel Hilaire, born in 1900 and died in 1983, was a French politician and statesman who served as the Minister of National Education and Fine Arts in the 1940s.

These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the surname HILAIRE, showcasing its long-standing presence and the varied backgrounds and achievements of those who carried this name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hilaire

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Hilaire.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Hilaire was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Hilaire has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Hilaire was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Hilaire, please contact us.

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