Hilary vs Hildagarde
American parents have registered 26,368 Hilarys since 1880, against 206 Hildagardes. Hilary is still ahead, with 24 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Hilary Hildagarde
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 130 years in which either name was published, Hilary for 127 years and Hildagarde for 3 years. The lead changed hands 4 times.
- 1882–1897 Hilary ahead
- 1898–1899 Hildagarde ahead
- 1902 Hilary ahead
- 1904 Hildagarde ahead
- 1905–2025 Hilary ahead
Side by side
| Hilary | Hildagarde | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 26,368 | 206 |
| Most in one year | 1,225 | 17 |
| Babies in 2025 | 24 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 24,000 | 7 |
| Median age today | 41 | 90 |
| Peak year | 1990 | 1916 |
| Best rank | 232nd girls | 1,949th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 5,238th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1882 | 1898 |
| Girls / boys | 24,171 / 2,197 | 206 / 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 Hildagardes alive today are over 90; half the Hilarys are over 41. That is 49 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 Hildagarde.