The family members hold varying degrees of power, wealth and status as socialites in the United States.

[4][5] The Hilton family name originates from a farm in the traditional district of Romerike in Akershus county (fylke) of Norway and can be traced to the town of Kløfta since the late 18th century.

[6][7] The American branch of the family is descended from Augustus Halvorsen Hilton, who migrated from Norway to San Antonio, New Mexico in 1870.

In the 1900 United States census, Hilton was listed as a dry goods merchant.

[8] Conrad Hilton is the son of the Norwegian emigrant and therefore a first-generation American, he laid the base of the modern Hilton family which currently is based in New Mexico, California and New York.