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

Hilo, 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 Hilo surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hilo in America

Hilo is the 99378th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hilo surname appeared 182 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 Hilo.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hilo 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 Hilo

The surname HILO is believed to have originated in Spain, where it first emerged in the region of Galicia during the Middle Ages. It is thought to be derived from the Latin word "hilum," which means "small opening" or "scar." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a person who lived near a specific landmark or geographical feature, such as a cave or a crevice.

In the 13th century, the name HILO appeared in several Galician records and manuscripts, though the spellings varied slightly, including "Hilo," "Hillo," and "Ilo." One of the earliest documented examples is Juan Hilo, a landowner mentioned in a charter from the year 1268.

During the 15th century, the HILO name began to spread beyond Galicia and into other parts of Spain, particularly in the regions of Andalusia and Castile. In 1492, a merchant named Francisco Hilo was recorded in the city of Seville, and a few decades later, in 1526, a priest named Pedro Hilo was documented in the town of Córdoba.

As Spain embarked on its colonial expansion in the 16th and 17th centuries, individuals bearing the HILO surname also made their way to the Americas. One notable example is Juan de Hilo, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico under Hernán Cortés in the early 1500s.

In the 18th century, the HILO name appeared in various Spanish colonial records in the Caribbean and South America. For instance, a land grant from 1734 in Cuba mentions a landowner named Diego Hilo, while a military roster from 1785 in Venezuela lists a soldier named Manuel Hilo.

Other notable individuals with the HILO surname throughout history include María Hilo, a Spanish painter known for her religious works in the 17th century; Antonio Hilo, a 19th-century politician and lawyer from Seville; and Enrique Hilo, a Spanish philosopher and writer active in the early 20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hilo

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

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

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

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