Hila
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "praiseworthy" or "aura of brightness".
Name Census estimates that about 430 living Americans carry the first name Hila. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hila today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hila births was 2022 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hila. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Hila with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
430
~ 1 in 797,103 Americans
Peak year
2022
26 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,025
Tracked since 1884
Census
Hila in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 818 people with the first name Hila, which placed it at #14,422 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,422
National first-name rank
People counted
818
818 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hila
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hila is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Hila described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Hila at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.5% · 667
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 56
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.0% · 49
- Two or more races2.9% · 24
- Black or African American2.4% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Hila: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hila from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 114 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hila remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hila by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Hila during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hilas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hila
The name Hila is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language, derived from the word "hilah," which means "praise" or "rejoice." This name has been in use since ancient times, dating back to the biblical era.
In the Old Testament, Hila is mentioned as the name of a town in the territory of the tribe of Asher. While it is not clear if the town's name influenced the personal name, it is possible that the name Hila was used by the Israelites during this period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hila can be found in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. The Talmud mentions a woman named Hila who lived during the 2nd century CE and was known for her wisdom and piety.
In the Middle Ages, the name Hila was popular among Jewish communities in Europe. One notable figure from this time was Hila of Hameln, a 13th-century Jewish woman from Germany who is remembered for her heroic efforts in saving her community during a period of persecution.
During the Renaissance, the name Hila gained popularity among non-Jewish communities as well. One famous bearer of this name was Hila de Aragón, a 16th-century Spanish noblewoman and patron of the arts, who lived from 1510 to 1580.
In the 19th century, the name Hila was used by Hila Watzek, an Austrian-born American philanthropist who lived from 1847 to 1924. She is remembered for her significant contributions to education and the arts in Portland, Oregon.
Another notable figure from the 20th century was Hila Pfeffer, an Israeli writer and activist who lived from 1914 to 2010. She played a significant role in the establishment of Israel and was an influential voice in promoting women's rights and social justice.
Throughout history, the name Hila has been carried by individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds, each leaving their mark on their respective communities and societies.
People
Hila + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hila as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hila: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hila?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 430 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hila going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 797,103 US residents.
Is Hila a common name?
We classify Hila as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 793 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hila most popular?
The single biggest year for Hila was 2022, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hila is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hila in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 818 people with the name Hila, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,422 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Hila in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Hila?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hila leans strongly female. 806 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 10 male bearers (1.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Hila?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hila is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Hila most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hila in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.5% (667 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Hila in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hila a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hila in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Hila still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hila in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Hila can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Hila?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.