Surname Saturday: HILLINGER (Austria?>Germany>US)

So, I'm going to be trying something new for a while... I found something called Surname Saturday at another Genealogy Blog that I found quite intriguing, so I thought I'd try it as well. I'm not sure how many generations I'll go back--several lines use patrynomics only about three generations back, meaning that the names change every generation, so that makes it difficult to keep up with something like this...but we'll see.

For more information, the master post about Surname Saturday is here.

For my purposes, I'm going to start with my maiden Surname and work my way back from there.


HILLINGER (Austria?>Germany>US)

Meaning/Pronunciation: English pronunciation: Hill-in-jer. Germanic pronunciation: Hil-ling-er. I’ve been unable to find a meaning for the name, but if anyone out there has an idea, do let me know.

Origin: Though I have not be able to confirm this, I have been told the name is Austrian in origin. For my family, the earliest we have the name is my great-great grandmother, but we don’t know where she was born, unfortunately, though we believe her son was born in Germany, or was otherwise a German citizen.

Variations: None known at this time.

Relation to me: This is my maiden name.

Ancestors:
i: Hillinger, E; (private), Germany; married R Bordewick; 2 daughters.

ii: Hillinger, Sam; born 1922, died 2000; born in Frankfurt, Germany; married Margaret Hansen, 2 sons, 2 daughters.

iii: Hilinger (Senft), Elias (Alex); born about 1883, died 1948; German; married Dora Kresch, 2 sons, 4 daughters.

iv: Hilinger, Mindel, born before 1873, died unknown; unknown birth location; married Leon Seneft, 1 son known.

Looking for:
More about Mindel Hilinger and her family, and her husband’s family. Particularly their birth locations and dates, any other children they may have had, and their parents’ names.