Hiller
An English surname that often developed as a spelling variant of Hillier, usually referring to someone who worked on roofs or with tiles and slates.
The #3,387 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 29,276 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest evidence here points to Hiller as a variant form of Hillier. In that tradition, the name is occupational and refers to a roofer, tiler, or slater—someone who worked with roof coverings. Some older lexicographers also treated it as a Yorkshire form, and later indexing often places it alongside similar occupational surnames like Sawyer and Bowyer.
History
The name is found in English records by the early modern period, and the excerpted 19th-century sources show it in several English counties as well as in London and later American directories. Lower explicitly cross-references Hiller under Hellier/Hillier, which supports the idea that it was often treated as a spelling or regional variant rather than a wholly separate surname. A Germanic-sounding form also appears in continental scholarship, but for the English surname the occupational explanation is the safest reading.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old surname dictionaries often grouped Hiller with names like Sawyer and Bowyer because all were formed from the worker’s trade plus the -er ending.
From the historical record
“sonal uame. HILLER. See Hellier. I-IILLIARD. See Hildyard. HILLIER. See Hillyer. HILLMAN. From residence upon some hill. Its ancient forms are Atte-Hill, Ate Hull, &c. HILLS. See Hill.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom