Humanverse

Hill vs Hilma

American parents have registered 2,999 Hilmas since 1880, against 577 Hills. But in 2025 it was Hill that was commoner, 6 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Hill against Hilma, 1880 to 2025 0 30 60 90 120 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Hill Hilma

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 102 years in which either name was published, Hilma for 81 years and Hill for 21 years. The lead changed hands 5 times.

Side by side

  Hill Hilma
Total US births 5772,999
Most in one year 21105
Babies in 2025 6under 5
Estimated living today 200250
Median age today 2880
Peak year 19191915
Best rank 1,624th boys644th girls
Rank in 2025 10,695thunranked
First recorded 18841880
Girls / boys 0 / 5772,999 / 0

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 Hilmas alive today are over 80; half the Hills are over 28. That is 52 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: Hill and Hilma.