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

Hilgers, 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 Hilgers surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hilgers in America

Hilgers is the 28023rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hilgers surname appeared 855 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Hilgers.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hilgers 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 Hilgers

The surname Hilgers originated in Germany, first appearing in records during the late Middle Ages. The name is derived from the Old German personal name Hilger or Hilgar, which is composed of the elements "hil" meaning battle and "gar" meaning spear. This suggests the name may have been given to a skilled warrior or soldier.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Hilger von Alvensleben, a German nobleman who lived in the late 13th century. He was a member of the influential Alvensleben family and held lands in the region of Saxony-Anhalt.

In the 14th century, a Hilger von Lauenburg is mentioned in chronicles as a knight and vassal of the Duke of Lauenburg, located in modern-day Schleswig-Holstein. This suggests the name had spread to different regions of northern Germany by this time.

The Hilgers name appears in several medieval manuscripts and records, including the Codex Diplomaticus Anhaltinus from the 15th century, which contains references to individuals with this surname in the Anhalt region.

During the Renaissance period, a notable bearer of the name was Johann Hilgers, a German jurist and legal scholar born in 1567 in Cologne. He served as a professor of law at the University of Ingolstadt and wrote several influential works on jurisprudence.

In the 17th century, the Hilgers family established themselves in the town of Aachen, which was then part of the Holy Roman Empire. One member of this branch, Peter Hilgers, was a successful merchant and councilman who lived from 1628 to 1692.

Another prominent figure was Georg Hilgers, a Jesuit priest and theologian born in Münster in 1624. He taught philosophy and theology at various universities and authored several theological treatises before his death in 1677.

The name Hilgers can also be found in various place names throughout Germany, such as the village of Hilgers near Trier, which was first mentioned in records dating back to the 9th century under the name Hilgeresvilla.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hilgers

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

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 Hilgers 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 Hilgers 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 Hilgers was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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