Hilary (name)

Hilary, Hilarie or Hillary is a given name and surname, derived from the Latin hilarius meaning "cheerful", from hilaris, "cheerful, merry", which comes from the Greek ἱλαρός (hilaros), "cheerful, merry", which in turn comes from ἵλαος (hilaos), "propitious, gracious". Ilaria is the popular Italian feminine form, while Ilario is the Italian masculine one. Other male forms are Hilarion, Ilarion, and Illarion.

In the 1990s and first few decades of the twenty-first century, the name was strongly associated in the United States (US) with Hillary Clinton. Its popularity for babies in the US dropped rapidly during the beginning of her husband's presidency of the US.