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Hilliary
How to Pronounce Hilliary
Pronounced HIL-uh-ree /ˈhɪl.ə.ri/Medium
Meaning: Hilliary is a double-letter respelling of Hilary, which comes from the Latin 'hilaris', meaning cheerful or merry - the same root behind the word 'hilarious'. It descends from the early saints Hilarius and Hilaria and was used for both sexes before settling mainly on girls in the modern era.Medium
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Hilliary is a creative respelling of Hilary, a name rooted in the Latin 'hilaris' ('cheerful, merry') and carried into the Middle Ages by Saint Hilary of Poitiers. Once given to boys and girls alike, it had become mostly feminine in American use by the late twentieth century, and inventive spellings like this one followed the fashion for softening familiar names.
The extra letters never caught on widely - only a few dozen girls a year were named Hilliary at its slight peak around 1991, and it slipped away within a decade. Its brief life overlapped with a moment when the standard spelling Hillary was itself highly visible in American public life.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Hilliary mean?
Hilliary is a respelled form of Hilary, from the Latin 'hilaris', meaning 'cheerful' or 'merry'.
How do you pronounce Hilliary?
It's said HIL-uh-ree /ˈhɪl.ə.ri/ - three syllables, stress on the first.
Is Hilliary a boy or girl name?
Hilliary is used here as a girl's name, though Hilary was historically given to both sexes.
How popular is Hilliary?
Hilliary has always been very rare, a brief early-nineties respelling of the more familiar Hilary.