Hillary
Feminine · “Cheerful”
Hillary is given to both — 29,043 girls and 1,262 boys since 1880. See Hillary as a boy nameSee other names given to both
The name has one l in Latin, one l in Britain, and two in most American use. The doubling is not a mistake and not ancient; it is an American habit applied to a name that arrived spelled the other way, and it is now the more common form in the United States and almost unknown elsewhere.
How old is the name Hillary?
Hillary first appears in US birth records in 1922 — 103 years ago. The typical Hillary alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 28,000 people named Hillary are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hillary most popular?
Hillary peaked in 1992, reaching #132 nationally. Today it ranks #2583, 2,451 places below that high. See the whole 1992 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From hilaris to Hillary
The story of Hillary
The bishop the name belongs to was one of the most stubborn men of the fourth century. Hilary of Poitiers refused to accept the emperor's preferred settlement of the Arian dispute, refused to condemn the man the emperor wanted condemned, and was exiled to Asia Minor for it, where he learned Greek, read the eastern theologians, and wrote the book that made his reputation. He was eventually sent home because he was more trouble in exile than at large. The English legal year still has a term named after him, running from January, because his feast falls in the middle of that month and the courts of medieval England organized themselves around the calendar of the Church. The doubled l is a much later and much smaller story, and belongs entirely to American spelling.
Meaning
Cheerful
Latin hilaris, cheerful or glad, from the Greek word behind it. The English word hilarious descends from the same adjective and has drifted a long way: the Latin meant good-humored and settled, not funny. A Roman being described as hilaris was being called pleasant company, not amusing, and the name means the first of those.
How the name formed
- hilaris
- Hilarius
- Hilary
- Hillary
Related forms: Hilaire · Ilaria · Hilaria · Hilarius
Pronouncing Hillary
HIL-uh-ree
Three syllables with the stress at the front. The doubled l changes nothing audible; the vowel before it was already short. British speakers with the single-l spelling say exactly the same thing.
Nicknames for Hillary
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1922
- Most girls named
- 19922,520 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #132reached in 1992
- Change vs 2023
- −6.9%67 in 2025, from 72
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Hillary in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Hilaire in French — same name
- Ilaria in Italian — related form
- Hilaria in Spanish — related form
- Hilarius in Latin — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York.
Hillarys among us
people named Hillary are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 23,989 born in 2025 was named Hillary
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Hillary
- #2583
- Hillary on the 2025 chart
- #869
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Hillary went to 67 girls in 2025, but Hilary is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 91, which makes it the 869th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,714 places above the chart.
- Hillary67
- Hilary24
About 1 girl in 17,662 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 23,989 for Hillary itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Hillary's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jan climbed just as high around 1954, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jan's path sketches the road Hillary is walking now.
Hillary sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Hillary is headed
Hillary looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 18% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Hillary beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Hillary in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A clear and cheerful meaning that can be given to a child in one word.
- It has been in continuous use since the fourth century, which very few names manage.
- The name is recognizable in French, Italian and Spanish with small changes.
- The name is on record for boys as well, and was a man's name for most of its history.
- The single-l spelling is standard everywhere outside the United States, so the doubling has to be specified abroad.
- In America the name carries a strong political association that will not fade for a generation.
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What they receive
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Hillary
Feminine · #2583 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Hillarys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 28,000 people named Hillary are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Hillary?
- Hillary is the most-used spelling in US records — 67 of the 91 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Hilary.
- How popular is the name Hillary in 2025?
- Hillary ranks #2583 among US girl names in 2025, with 67 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Hillary?
- About 1 in every 23,989 US girls born in 2025 was named Hillary — 67 in all.
- Will my child share the name Hillary with classmates?
- Hillary will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Hillary
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Azra#2583 · Jelani#2583 · Liba#2583 · Talya#2583 · Nature#2583 · Xylah#2583 · Island#2583 · Maleni#2583
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hillary? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Hillary and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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