Hillel
Masculine · “praise”
Hillel is the Hebrew word for praise, and it belonged to the sage whose school shaped nearly all of later Jewish law.
How old is the name Hillel?
Hillel first appears in US birth records in 1918 — 107 years ago. The typical Hillel alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 1,300 people named Hillel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hillel most popular?
Hillel peaked in 1957, reaching #2274 nationally. Today it ranks #4139, 1,865 places below that high. See the whole 1957 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From halal to Hillel
The story of Hillel
Hillel the Elder taught in Jerusalem around the turn of the era, and the disputes between his school and Shammai's run through the Talmud — the law almost always follows Hillel. Asked to teach the whole Torah while standing on one foot, he is said to have answered: what is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor; the rest is commentary, go and learn it. The name is used across Jewish communities.
Meaning
praise
From Hebrew halal, to praise; the same root gives hallelujah, praise the Lord, and the Hallel psalms recited on festivals. Hillel is the intensive form of the verb.
How the name formed
- halal
- Hillel
Related forms: Hillel · Hilel
Pronouncing Hillel
hi-LEL
Two syllables with the stress on the second in Hebrew. Americans say HIL-el.
Nicknames for Hillel
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
- 1918
- Most boys named
- 202344 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2274reached in 1957
- Change vs 2023
- −43.2%25 in 2025, from 44
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.
Hillel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Hillel in Hebrew — same name
- Hilel in Yiddish — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, New Jersey, Maryland.
Hillels among us
people named Hillel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 68,323 born in 2025 was named Hillel
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Birch test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Hillel's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Birch climbed just as high around 1913, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Birch's path sketches the road Hillel is walking now.
Hillel 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 Hillel is headed
Hillel should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. 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.
Hillel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Hillel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning with a genuinely central root in the liturgy.
- One of the most consequential teachers in Jewish history behind it.
- Six letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- The stress differs between the Hebrew and American readings.
- A large campus organization carries the name, which is a strong association.
- It is clearly marked as a Jewish name, which is the intention in the families that use it.
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What they receive
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Hillel
Masculine · #4139 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Hillels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Hillel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Hillel in 2025?
- Hillel ranks #4139 among US boy names in 2025, with 25 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Hillel?
- About 1 in every 68,323 US boys born in 2025 was named Hillel — 25 in all.
- Will my child share the name Hillel with classmates?
- Hillel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Hillel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Mose#4139 · Lucious#4139 · Karsten#4139 · Nikita#4139 · Hasani#4139 · Jomar#4139 · Fionn#4139 · Earnest#4139
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hillel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Hillel and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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