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The hillary Surname

hillary Name Meaning and History

  1. from a medieval male personal name (from Latin Hilarius, a derivative of hilaris ‘cheerful’, ‘glad’, from Greek hilaros ‘propitious’, ‘joyful’). The Latin name was chosen by many early Christians to express their joy and hope of salvation, and was borne by several saints, including a 4th-century bishop of Poitiers noted for his vigorous resistance to the Arian heresy, and a 5th-century bishop of Arles. Largely due to veneration of the first of these, the name became popular in France in the forms Hilari and Hilaire, and was brought to England by the Norman conquerors.
  2. from the much rarer female personal name Eulalie (from Latin Eulalia, from Greek eulalos ‘eloquent’, literally well-speaking, chosen by early Christians as a reference to the gift of tongues), likewise introduced into England by the Normans. A St. Eulalia was crucified at Barcelona in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian and became the patron of that city. In England the name underwent dissimilation of the sequence -l-l- to -l-r- and the unfamiliar initial vowel was also mutilated, so that eventually the name was considered as no more than a feminine form of Hilary (of which the initial aspirate was in any case variable).

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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The hillary name in History

A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the hillary family name as far back in history as possible.

hillary Family Facts

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Distribution of hillary Families in the US in 1920
Number of hillary families
 16-30
 6-15		 1-5
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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Hillary message board


Threads: 17 - Messages: 55
ThreadAuthorReplies
Thomas Hillary/Hilleary M.Fox 2
Patrick Hillary, Annie Carroll, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, Ireland 1890's. MEB 5
Hillary or Hillery mariehillery 0
HILLERY Kitty C. Zaugg 20
Hillary/Hilleary/Monnett/Sprigg Mark Malone 4
Joseph HILLARY Julie M. Hopper 0
Hillary family of County Clare unknown16009161531 0
Henry Hillary Randall McDaniel 0
Hillary surname - looking for Richard and Hillary Cole Mc Allister. JulieHopper67 0
Mary Hillary Jeannette Taylor Clark 0
Viewing 1-10 of 17 |  Go to the full board

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