Humanverse

Hilary vs Hill

American parents have registered 26,368 Hilarys since 1880, against 577 Hills. Hilary is still ahead, with 24 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Hilary against Hill, 1880 to 2025 0 400 800 1.2k 1.6k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Hilary Hill

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 134 years in which either name was published, Hilary for 127 years and Hill for 7 years. The lead changed hands 8 times.

Side by side

  Hilary Hill
Total US births 26,368577
Most in one year 1,22521
Babies in 2025 246
Estimated living today 24,000200
Median age today 4128
Peak year 19901919
Best rank 232nd girls1,624th boys
Rank in 2025 5,238th10,695th
First recorded 18821884
Girls / boys 24,171 / 2,1970 / 577

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Hilarys alive today are over 41; half the Hills are over 28. That is 13 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Hilary and Hill.