Meaning and background
The story behind Hilary
Hilary is a medieval English form of the Latin personal names Hilarius and Hilaria, ultimately linked to a word meaning cheerful. It was used predominantly for men in medieval England and was later revived in Britain with more female usage. That historical change is more useful than assigning it one timeless gender. Hilary normally has three syllables in English, and the inherited Latin sense is not evidence that a dog is cheerful.
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About Hilary
Recorded as a dog’s name
Hilary appears in 3 dog licence records in the 2022 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/hɪlɚi/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/hɪlɚi/ · primary stress on syllable 1HH IH1 L ER0 IY0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — all seven available extract years, retrieved 24 October 2026 — Recorded name spellings in NYC licence-period rows, extract years 2016–2018, 2022–2024 and 2026. Evidence selects one stated year per name. Annual snapshots overlap; never sum them as unique dogs. No national popularity, etymology or owner naming-intent claim.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.