My father's middle name. I've always liked it. We pronounce it "Heh-lel," but nobody in my family has ever met anyone else with that name, so it's probably wrong.
I don't mean to be picking on you, it's just that once again I have to correct you on the pronunciation. I've never met a Hillel who pronounced his name Hi-lel. In my esperience it's always been Hill-el.A famous bearer of this name would of course be the Biblical commentator and sage Hillel who founded the school of knowlege know as Bet Hillel (literally The House of Hillel). One of his more famous quotes is the extremely wise "If I am not for myself, who will be? If I'm only for myself, who am I? And if not now, when?"
In addition to my previous comment:The name is spelt הִלֵּל. Hi-le-l, with the second vowel (the E) clearly attached to the first L. Hill-el would be more like חִלאֵל.
Jewish boys are also named Hillel after the famous sage rabbi Hillel, who was known for his kindness. One of his most famous sayings "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor." Hillel was a rabbi at the times of Herod, and it is believed by scholars that "Jesus" was influenced by Hillel's teachings about love for humanity. Also HILLEL is the world famous Jewish youth organization. Also for Passover we eat a matza sandwich known as Hillel's sandwich because that is how rabbi Hillel used to make it. supporting web site: http://www.jewfaq.org/sages.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillel_the_Elder (info on how Jesus "borrowed" Hillel's teachings) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillel (more about name Hillel)
Hillel is also known in Jewish mythology as the name of the chief angel who rebelled against God and was thrown out of heaven - better known as Lucifer. His full name was Hillel Ben-Shachar - "Hillel son of the dawn". The morning star (also called Lucifer) is called "Kochav Ben-Shachar" in Hebrew.
The reference to Lucifer above is a wrong assumption. First of all, "the morning star" is mentioned in the passage by Isaiah, and the controversy comes from the word HYLL (there spelled Het, yod, lamed, lamed Heyel), however Hillel is spelled het, lamed, lamed (no yod!). In addition, in the passage Isaiah is literary talking about morning star. In medivel times, Lucifer (which comes from Latin) meant "morning star or the planet Venus", only later the writer called Milton in his novel created a character who was a Satan named "Lucifer". Thus the name "Hillel" has absolutely nothing to do with "Lucifer". Here is one of the online sources: http://www.kjvonly.org/doug/kutilek_notes_on_lucifer_pr.htm