Hilary

Where Hilary comes from

From Latin Hilarius (“cheerful, happy”), name of a fourth-century saint, and from its feminine form Hilaria.
— Wiktionary's entry for Hilary
  • Latin
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1914
    First appearance
    #3,618 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1944
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  3. 1974
    Hilary Swank born
    American actress
  4. 1987
    Hilary Duff born
    American actress and singer
  5. 1990
    Peak, #232
    1,217 babies named Hilary — more than any year before or since.
  6. 1993
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #647.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Latin.
  • A female given name from Latin.
Namesakes
  • Hilary Swank · American actress, born 1974
  • Hilary Duff · American actress and singer, born 1987
  • Hilary Mantel · British writer, 1952–2022
  • Hilary Putnam · American philosopher and mathematician, 1926–2016
  • Hilary Hahn · American classical violinist, born 1979

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.