Hilliard
A surname likely meaning “of the hill-yard” or “by the hill enclosure.”
The #1,756 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,152 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is generally explained as a habitational or topographic surname from Middle English hill and yard/garth, referring to someone who lived by a yard, enclosure, or homestead on a hill. Early writers also connect it with forms such as Hildyard and Hillyard, but for Hilliard itself the most straightforward sense is “hill-yard.” The ending reflects older spellings and local pronunciation rather than any separate modern meaning.
History
19th-century surname dictionaries place Hilliard alongside spellings such as Hillyard, Hillard, and Hilyard, especially in English records. The name is attested in Britain and later carried to Ireland and North America. Some older works grouped it with Hildyard/Hillyard forms, so historical spelling variation is an important feature of the name’s record.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname indexes sometimes treated Hilliard and Hillyard as spelling variants of the same family name, which makes tracing one line of descent trickier than it first appears.
From the historical record
“London, 3. HillyarcUHilleard.Hilliard, Hillard, HUdyard. Hilyard.— (1) Local, *at the hill- garth* or ' hill-yard.' Not to be confounded with Hillier, q.v.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)