Hilary vs Hildreth
American parents have registered 26,368 Hilarys since 1880, against 886 Hildreths. Hilary is still ahead, with 24 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Hilary Hildreth
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 135 years in which either name was published, Hilary for 117 years and Hildreth for 18 years. The lead changed hands 12 times.
- 1882–1891 Hilary ahead
- 1892–1911 Hildreth ahead, apart from 2 short spells
- 1915–2025 Hilary ahead, apart from 2 short spells
6 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Hilary | Hildreth | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 26,368 | 886 |
| Most in one year | 1,225 | 48 |
| Babies in 2025 | 24 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 24,000 | 80 |
| Median age today | 41 | 83 |
| Peak year | 1990 | 1918 |
| Best rank | 232nd girls | 1,184th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 5,238th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1882 | 1892 |
| Girls / boys | 24,171 / 2,197 | 789 / 97 |
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 Hildreths alive today are over 83; half the Hilarys are over 41. That is 42 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 Hildreth.