Ilaria
Feminine · “cheerful”
Ilaria is the Italian for cheerful, and the Latin word behind it is the one that gave English hilarious. The sense has narrowed considerably on the way — hilaris meant good-humored and cheerful rather than funny — and the name kept the older meaning.
How old is the name Ilaria?
Ilaria first appears in US birth records in 1968 — 57 years ago. The typical Ilaria is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 800 people named Ilaria are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ilaria most popular?
Ilaria peaked in 2025, reaching #2822 nationally. Today it ranks #2822, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From hilaros to Ilaria
The story of Ilaria
Hilarius and Hilaria were Roman names, and both were carried by early Christian figures, which is what preserved them past the empire. The masculine survives in the French Hilaire and the English Hilary; the feminine settled into Italian as Ilaria and stayed there, quietly ordinary, for centuries. It has become genuinely common in Italy in recent decades. It reaches American records with Italian families and, increasingly, with parents who simply met it there — the sound travels well and the spelling gives English readers no trouble.
Meaning
cheerful, glad
Latin hilaris, from Greek hilaros, means cheerful, merry or in good spirits. Hilaria is its feminine form used as a name, and Italian dropped the h, which it does not pronounce, giving Ilaria. The English hilarious comes from the same word and has drifted toward the comic; the Latin sense was closer to being in a good mood. The reading is documented.
How the name formed
- hilaros
- hilaris
- Hilaria
- Ilaria
Related forms: Hilaria · Hilary · Hilaire · Hilaria
Pronouncing Ilaria
ee-LAH-ree-ah
Four syllables with the stress on the second and a clean ee at the front. American English tends toward ih-LAR-ee-uh, shortening the opening vowel; both are widely heard.
Nicknames for Ilaria
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
- 1968
- Most girls named
- 202560 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2822reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +57.9%60 in 2025, from 38
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.
Ilaria in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Hilaria in Latin — related form
- Hilary in English — related form
- Hilaire in French — related form
- Hilaria in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.
Ilarias among us
people named Ilaria are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 26,788 born in 2025 was named Ilaria
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 Siana test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ilaria's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Siana climbed just as high around 2007, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Siana's path sketches the road Ilaria is walking now.
Ilaria 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 Ilaria is headed
Ilaria 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.
Ilaria beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ilaria in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A cheerful, documented meaning with a clean line back to Latin and Greek.
- Ila and Ria are both natural short forms and both are complete names elsewhere.
- Reads correctly at sight for English speakers, which many Italian names do not.
- It sits close to Hilary, and people will assume the h has been dropped by mistake.
- Four syllables is long for daily use and the name will usually be shortened.
- In the United States it is unfamiliar enough that it gets spelled out often.
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What they receive
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Ilaria
Feminine · #2822 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ilarias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Ilaria are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ilaria in 2025?
- Ilaria ranks #2822 among US girl names in 2025, with 60 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ilaria?
- About 1 in every 26,788 US girls born in 2025 was named Ilaria — 60 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ilaria with classmates?
- Ilaria will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ilaria
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lya#2822 · Roxanna#2822 · Kensington#2822 · Maybelle#2822 · Hayat#2822 · Seven#2822 · Livie#2822 · Haniya#2822
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ilaria? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ilaria and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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