Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Hilary?
Births per year, rank history and how many Hilaries are alive today.
Hilary (female), once a common girls' name, is now rarely given to new babies in England and Wales: just 6 in 2025, ranked 3705th. This spelling of the name peaked in 1954, when around 680 babies were given the name, the 61st most popular that year. It has declined since 1954; the 2025 figure is roughly 1% of its peak. At least 21,000 babies have been named Hilary in England and Wales since 1944. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Hilary is one spelling of a name also recorded as Hillary; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Hilary you are most likely to meet is around 71 years old. Half of all Hilaries born in England and Wales are between 55 and 76, and there are at least 22,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 6.7% chance that at least one of them will be called Hilary.
How many babies are named Hilary each year?
Includes all spellings: Hilary, Hillary. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Hilary spelling rank?
Where does the Hillary spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Hilary most popular?
Hilary peaked in 1954, when around 680 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Hilary?
At least 22,000 people named Hilary in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Hilary?
Most living Hilaries are between 55 and 76; the most common age is about 71.
Is Hilary becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1954 peak.