3.3.1 Germany

The form Hillmann is far more common in Germany as might be expected than the single “n” Hillman at an approximate ratio of 3:1. This is best illustrated by two maps (Figure 1) from Christoph Stoepel’s site[1]. There are only nine records for Hillman in seven clusters widely scattered across the country. In contrast there are 2,304 records for the double “n” Hillmann in 838 clusters. This calculates at only 0.28 Hillmann per ten thousand of the population, compared with one Hillman per ten thousand in England and Wales. The ratio in this case is 283 to one! Evidently Hillmann is very much the local form of the name, especially across the north of the country[2] in the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Recent Occurrence of Hillmann in German States (Geneanet)

Stoepel also indicates some possible inter-relationships with Hilmann, Hillmanns, Hilleman, Hillemanns, Hielman – as well as Ellmann, Almann, Ollmann, Allmann, Ullmann, Illemann, Eylmann and Ilemann. These reflect the possible links in the UK with vowel sounds replacing each other as mentioned elsewhere here – possibly related to local dialect and accents as recorded in the past.

Figure 2 Distribution maps from Christoph Stoepel – Hillman left, Hillmann right (column height represent actual number)

Dräger and Schmuck[3] state that surnames were adopted in Germany from as early as the 11^th century, but were in the form of “by-names” that were not fixed. From the 17^th century onwards regulations required formally fixed surnames, which in 1900 had their spelling fixed permanently by law. They categorised all German surnames into five classes in which Hillman would most likely fit the locational type, derived from place of residence – if the Hill part refers to a topographic hill (which in German is hügel), and did not have military or other derivations, for example hell (bright), hild, hilt, helm (helmet) or hilfe or helfen (help).

Mike Hillman (pers. comm.) of Texas, USA, who has traced his German antecedents, has noted that the present-day languages from the North European area would appear to provide little guidance, if – and it is a big if – the name is a simple toponymic (named after a topographical feature – like a hill).

Table 2 Translation of “hill” into modern languages of western European

Mike Hillman notes that of these words, only the Swedish “kulle” (or the German “hugel”?) would have much possibility of evolving into the present-day English word “Hill”.

The significant numbers of German immigrants with the name Hillman or more usually Hillmann has already been noted in the North American section here.

Consulting the German “White Pages”[4] results in only 25 entries for Hillman, but Hillmann occurs 1,490 times – a factor of almost 60 times more!

3.3.2 Netherlands

Research of the Open Archives website[5] for the Netherlands and Belgium produced 523 records between 1733 and 1936 for the various forms of the name (Table 2):

Table 3 Hillman records from the Netherlands

The double “n” ending Germanic Hillmann form was recorded three times as often as the single “n” form Hillman, while the “aitchless” forms of Illman and Ilman were very rare – five and two records each respectively. This suggests a stronger relationship to the German form than the Scandinavian -which is hardly surprising given the Netherlands location.

The highest number of records were in Amsterdam (269), followed by Rotterdam (76) and then Delfshaven (51), All other locations (n=34) were low at between one and eight occurrences each only (Figure 1).

Figure 3 Hillman locations (all forms) in the Netherlands (mapped from Open Archive data)

Amsterdam and Rotterdam are large cities so a high frequency is not unexpected. Delfshaven is in effect a suburb of Rotterdam. At all of the three main locations Hillmann outnumbered Hillman by at least a factor of two.

Figure 4 Netherlands – changes in name records over time (Open Archives data)

It is of interest to note that the single “n” form Hillman was recorded with the same frequency until the mid-19^th C, after which the double “n” form Hillmann predominates significantly.

Naomi Riches in her book about Norfolk [6] makes mention of the Dutch incomers in the 14^th C as weavers of worsted and the family and place names they introduced to that area in the process. This could have been one possible avenue for the name Hillman to be introduced from western Europe in the 14^th C.

3.3.3 Belgium

Despite being sandwiched between the Netherlands and Germany few records have been found for the name Hillman in the country. Between 1836 and 1839 Maria Wolton (or Wotton) Hillman was recorded[7] at Ostende as “mother” on four occasions with no further details. From the same source (Belgian State Archives) Maria Catharina Illman was recorded in 1742 as “Moeder dopeling” (mother at baptism) at Eupen.

John William Hillman, son of John and Margaret Hillman, was baptised in the Anglican Church at Antwerp in 1828[8]. It would seem likely that this family using the Anglican church might well have been English in origin.

3.3.4 France

Hillman is uncommon in France with only 14 occurrences listed by the LocateMyName website[9]. Highest occurrence is in Paris (n=3), with two each in Brittany and Provence. These scattered low numbers could possibly derive from British or other immigrants in recent years.

A similar distribution and low frequency is exhibited on the geopatronyme site[10] with nine records for Hillman births between 1941 and 1965; three for Hillmann between 1891 and 1965; one for Illman between 1966 and 1990; ten for Illmann between 1941 and 1990. Records are widely distributed at low frequency suggesting possibly the presence of expatriate Hillmans rather than long-term natives in the country.

Another instance of Hillman name interest is the presence of the Second World War “Hillman Bunker” or “Hillman Fortress” located in Normandy near the Baie de la Seine coast, and north of Caen. This is a large concrete underground bunker complex, now a memorial and museum to the men of the British 1^st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. It is evident that it was named for the British car marque Hillman, given that others were code-named Morris, Daimler and Humber. It started life as a German bunker complex, called Hill 61 originally, then code-named “Hillman” by the British. It was taken by the Suffolk Regiment on 6 Jun 1944[11].

The Family Search website[12] lists 70 records. All but two of these refer to burials in 1914-1918 and 1941-1945, all relating to the burials of male Hillmans in France, so almost certainly British military personnel who died in the two World Wars. The exceptions were for a British Hillman woman marrying a Frenchman in 1866, and her father at the same occasion.

3.3.5 Austria

Very few records have been found for Austria but the indications are that there were Hillmans there.

Two Hillmann Jewish marriages were located on Family Search[13] – Rosa Hillmann, daughter of Samuel Hillmann, married Salomon Reiter in 1908 in Innere Stadt, Vienna; Samuel Hillmann – her father and himself son of Abraham Hillmann, married Elle Drobne Spens, at the same place, but in 1902. One presumes that this was for him a second marriage!

Six districts in Austria are shown on the Hillmann distribution map with up to five individuals in each. Most people with the name were found in Vienna Bezirk Stadt. The name Hillmann ranks 54,222^nd in Austrian surnames so is particularly rare. The name Illmann also occurs at even lower frequency, only found in Bezirk Stadt and ranks 111,799[14].

The National Archives (UK)[15] contain a record for Mary Houston Hillman from Austria applying for UK Naturalisation from Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Friedrich Hillman was born in Vienna, Austria in 1919, and subjected to the horrors of the Nazi German invasion of Austria in 1938[16]. He with some of his family was forced to try to flee to Czechoslovakia, then Luxembourg, Belgium and France, being captured and sent to Drancy and Auschwittz, but surviving to be liberated at the end of the Second World War and able to emigrate to Israel in 1949.

There were clearly Hillmans in Austria, probably Jewish, and the name may still be found there.

3.3.6 Italy

The LocateMyName website[17] has only six occurrences of the name Hillman in Italy – three in the extreme north in Lombardy, two near Venice and one in Tuscany. These could easily be recent (expatriate) immigrants.

The GensInfo website also gives just six instances of the name Hillman in Italy in very dispersed settlement areas[18]. The name Hillmann is recorded only once on the same site right on the French border. These again suggests immigrants to Italy from elsewhere.

3.3.7 Spain and Portugal

Tuomas Salste[19] records 61 people in Spain in 2014 with the surname Hillman. It is difficult to know whether any of these might be of a primary origin – which is unlikely. However, the large numbers of expatriate British, German and Scandinavian people now resident in that country could account for the number.

3.4 Ireland

The name Hillman occurs in Ireland, and information here pre-dates any division into different national entities (Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland). There are several references to Hillmans from Ireland emigrating to the USA in the 1800s, but it is not clear how much they were of original “native” Irish origin, or relatively recent incoming settlers and agricultural labourers from England?

The Irish Genealogy Civil and Church records[20] include 151 records, of which 132 are for the name Hillman, 18 for Hilman and one for Illman. The records cover the period 1654 to 1957, and were located as far apart as Belfast, Dublin and places in between. The dates concur with the period of importation of English workers by the English aristocracy who were encouraged to “colonise” Ulster. The “Honorable Irish Society” was formed and English workers brought in after 1610[21]. (see John Hillman here below)

**Fig.5 Locations of Hillman records in Ireland**

The papers of the Earl of Antrim in the Public Record Office[22] indicate that the Earl encouraged English and Scottish tenants on his estates as early as 1637. The list of such names includes Hillman, making it difficult to conclude, even from such early days, whether the name was ever truly a native Irish one?

In 1639 Symon Hillman Esquire of Coleraine is mentioned[23] with respect to building a wharf on the east side of the River Bann – clearly a man of some means, an engineer possibly, and Alderman of Colerane (sic) and addressed as “esquire” no less.

John and Patrick Hillman are both listed in the 1766 Religious Census of Ireland in Magherafelt Parish in Armagh Diocese, Loughenshollen Barony, Londonderry County[24]. This might also appear to involve settlers or labourers from England in the northern areas.

In this same parish, but at Castle Dawson, another family of Hillman receives mention[25]. This concerns Mary Hillman who married James Black around 1850. Lynton Stewart writes that his enquiry to the Irish Genealogy Service concerning her received the response that they could not identify any Irish Hillman families!

John Hillman also lived in Castledawson – he died in Mar 1821 reputedly in his 115^th year making him Ireland’s oldest man ever, and not far from the British record[26]. Like other Hillmans of the time in London he was a shoemaker, as was his son Hercules after him in the same place. John’s first wife was Jane White, by whom he had six children – Hercules, Margaret, John, Arthur, Thomas and Charles. He had further children by his second wife it is said into his 100^th year. He was reportedly wealthy and eccentric. He was fond of horse-riding, before breakfast riding up to 30 miles or more whatever the weather. Their home was known as “Hillman’s Folly” or “Hillman’s Fancy” of which no trace is left today.

A series of 40 Hillman name records from Irish sites[27] (with those above) includes dates from 1654 to 1996. Two of these are recorded as Protestants, so probably of English origin, others of the “Church of Ireland”, and another was noted as being from England but of Irish descent. Further research is required on the name in Ireland to determine whether this is a primary origin, or – as is most likely – secondary via immigrant labour brought in from England by wealthy English aristocrat landowners?

The results of the 1901 and 1911 Census in the whole of Ireland indicate 24 Hillmans from only 9 different addresses[28]. Almost all are in Antrim (Belfast), with only one each in Londonderry, and Louth, now in the Republic. There are no records of the name Illman.

Information from Belfast includes a road called Hillman Street, with the Hillman Street School between 1903-1943 in the Shankhill area, which had both Protestant and Roman Catholic children[29] . The street must have had some association with the family Hillman, unless it was named for the Hillman car marque? Surrounding street names would not support that last conclusion.