Hilaire's Name Day

13th January

Hilaire, the name has a description or meaning which is from the Latin, 'cheerful'

Hilaire has a Name day of 13th January, please check our history page to find out how this was derived

This description represents the Male usage of the name.

This name is a variant of the original name Hilary

There is also an alternative celebration date of 14th January for this Name day and represents different religious interpretations or different festival days for Saints

St Hilary is a patron saint of the following:

Symbols are often associated with Saints, it often helped in the middle ages when people were unable to read thus Hilary has the following symbols associated

Historically Famous Hilaires

There were five Hilarys canonized in the early Church, but it is Hilary of Poitiers who is best known to us, giv ing his name to the second term in the academic year the Hilary Term - to the Law Courts and some universities; this, as the Spring term, would begin around the time of his feast day. Hilary was born about 315 into a wealthy pagan family of Poitiers; after his conversion to Christianity he was consecrated as Bishop (although he was married and a father). He is chiefly remembered for his great theological writings against the Arian heresy which was exercising the Church at that time. Arius taught that Jesus Christ was human, not divine, whereas orthodox Christianity has always believed Jesus Christ to be both human and divine. In fact, Hilary was such a fierce defender of the Trinity that he was exiled from his diocese and sent to Phrygia by the Emperor Constantius II (who happened to be an Arian himself). This ploy backfired, for Hilary proceeded to dig deeper into Greek theology, becoming even more convinced by orthodox Christian doctrine - and was not afraid to say so. In the end, the Arians sent him back to his diocese, labelling him a 'mischief-maker'. After he died, his bed was set up in the cathedral of Poitiers and was known as 'Hilary's Cradle'. It was thought that anyone who could be made to sleep a night in it would be cured of insanity. Hilary also was reputed to have cleared an island of snakes, and thus is often invoked against snakebite.