How common is the surname Hillis?

5,866 people in the United States had the surname Hillis in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 52,633 Americans. It ranked 5,884th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Hillis?

William Daniel Hillis, American computer scientist (born 1956), followed by Ali Hillis.

Where is the surname Hillis most common?

Wikidata records people named Hillis in the United States.

Is the surname Hillis getting more or less common?

More common. 5,673 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,866 in 2010, up 3.4%.

The surname Hillis

A surname, carried by 5,866 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex H420

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Hillis is more common than 96.4% of them.

Origin

Variant of Hills or Hillhouse.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 5,866 people named Hillis in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 52,633 Americans. That is up 3.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 5,673.

#5,884

rank among US surnames

5,866

people in 2010

2.0

per 100,000 Americans

+3.4%

change since 2000 (was #5,608)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#5,877	Kuhl	5,872	52,579
#5,878	Wen	5,870	52,597
#5,881	Spinks	5,868	52,615
#5,884	Dibble	5,866	52,633
#5,886	Halpin	5,865	52,642
#5,888	Shupe	5,861	52,678

Who is named Hillis

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

91% of people named Hillis identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.9% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 91%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.9%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.4%
Two or more races 1.4%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Hilliss

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

William Daniel Hillis
American computer scientist (born 1956)
Ali Hillis
American actress, born 1978
Elwood Hillis
American politician (1926–2023)
Peyton Hillis
American football player, born 1986

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Hillis

Hillis has the Soundex code H420, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code H420.

Questions

Where does the surname Hillis come from?: Variant of Hills or Hillhouse.
How common is the surname Hillis?: 5,866 people in the United States had the surname Hillis in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 52,633 Americans. It ranked 5,884th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Hillis?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Hillis identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.9% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Hillis?: William Daniel Hillis, American computer scientist (born 1956), followed by Ali Hillis.
Where is the surname Hillis most common?: Wikidata records people named Hillis in the United States.
Is the surname Hillis getting more or less common?: More common. 5,673 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,866 in 2010, up 3.4%.