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Her husband may be involved in one of the biggest—and most tragic—celebrity scandals of this era, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t interested in Hilaria Baldwin for very different reasons. Though the Rust incident that took Halyna Hutchins’ life was determined to be an accident, Alec Baldwin isn’t off the hook. Yet as her husband is formally charged in the shooting, critics are looking closely at Hilaria for other reasons.
The mom of seven (plus stepdaughter Ireland) has lately been donning t-shirts with interesting messages, ostensibly to the press and public, showing that she’s backing her husband up and asking for privacy. But there’s something about Hilaria that created its own scandal, though a far less tragic one than the Rust shooting. Hilaria Baldwin has been spotlighted for “faking” her Spanish heritage in the past, and now, the truth has come out regarding her real name.
Hilaria’s Not-So-Spanish Scandal
Ever since she was linked to Alec Baldwin (they were married in 2012 after meeting in 2011), Hilaria has been known as Hilaria. But after Alec’s bad behavior began to draw attention in the media, people began speaking out about Hilaria’s background and alleging that she was appropriating Spanish culture.
Though she eventually posted an “apology” to social media for the apparent misunderstanding, Hilaria maintains that she is multicultural and culturally fluid, among other things.
Her alleged Spanish heritage also seemed to influence her children; their names are Carmen, Rafael, Leonardo, Romeo, Eduardo, Maria, and Ilaria. The Baldwins often refer to their brood as the Baldwinitos.
Language wasn’t the only thing in question in the whole Spanish scandal, though; people accused Hilaria of dyeing her hair to appear more Hispanic, and she was also said to have faked an accident (though inconsistently).
After all of this, it came out that Hilaria was not even her real name, which led fans to question her real, legal name and when she might have changed it.
What Is Hilaria Baldwin’s Legal Name?
According to multiple sources, Hilaria Baldwin’s legal name at birth was Hillary Lynn Hayward-Thomas. This is the name listed on her Wikipedia page, but there are few details about her name change, apart from becoming a Baldwin upon marrying Alec in 2012.
Of course, ever since she grew to fame on Alec’s arm, people have flocked to online forums to gossip about Hilaria, and the topic of her name has come up often. Some super-sleuthing fans found legal documents that establish a timeline of Hilaria’s name change, but the information still doesn’t answer all their questions.
It did, however, bring up more questions and invite more speculation.
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When Did Hilary Baldwin Change Her Name To Hilaria?
The interested parties who wondered about Hilaria’s name change online eventually recovered legal records through an online search. The details they shared, which came from the New York State Unified Court System, confirm that Hillary Lynn Hayward-Thomas legally changed her name to Hilaria Hayward-Thomas in March 2010 (the paperwork was filed in February).
Details from the docket show that Hillary submitted her court petition without a lawyer and that the change was granted with no argument. Some speculated over the reason for the name change, which was not revealed on the paperwork.
One commenter suggested that changing her name went along with Hillary’s new job at Yoga Vida; the yoga studio opened right around the time that Hillary submitted her name change (January 2010).
They speculated, “I def think it was part of the ‘exotic foreign Yoga teacher’ persona she was beginning to develop as a way of standing out in that competitive market.”
The same commenter elaborated that apparently, Hillary’s timeline to becoming Hilaria began when she was on a Latin Ballroom dancing team, which they assume was her introduction to the possibility of putting on a spray tan and becoming Latina.
This follows what Hilaria’s former dance partner alleges; that Hilaria always had a “desire to be considered Spanish.” Hilaria formerly claimed to have been Spanish, though she later admitted she changed her name (and that she was born in Boston).
Yet she says she’s raising her children to be bilingual, “just as [she] was raised.” She’s even named her youngest child after herself—her chosen moniker, not her birth name.
Why The Name Hilaria?
As for the reason why Hillary became Hilaria, of all things, commenters couldn’t quite comprehend.
One person suggested, “Her parents did not start calling her Hilaria. I think when they first went to Spain and started meeting people they started calling her Hilaria. Either because it was easier or sounded better. I doubt the parents even knew there was a Spanish version of Hilary.”
But another disagreed, saying, “I’m both Spaniard and Hispanic and really no one is named ‘Hilaria’…”
Regardless, Hilaria stands behind her explanations of her heritage and childhood, and seems reluctant to back down from claims that she’s actually Spanish even though, by all accounts, it doesn’t appear that she is.
