| Hillesøy herred | |
|---|---|
| — Former Municipality — | |
| Northern Lights over Hillesøy church | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Norway |
| County | Troms |
| District | Nord-Norge |
| Municipality ID | NO-1930 |
| Adm. Center | Hillesøy |
| Area[1] | |
| • Total | 461 km2 (178 sq mi) |
| Created from | Lenvik in 1855 |
| Merged into | Lenvik and Tromsø in 1964 |
Hillesøy is a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. It is located in the present-day municipalities of Tromsø and Lenvik and both sides of the Malangen fjord. The island of Sommarøy is connected to the large island of Kvaløya by the Sommarøy Bridge.
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The municipality is named after the old Hillesøy farm (Old Norse: Hildulfsøy), since that is where the church was located. The first element of the old name comes from the old male name Hildulfr and the last part is identical with the word for "island". Another possibility for the meaning of the name is Hellisøy, where the first element comes from the work hellir which means "rock slab" and the last element again meaning "island".[1][2]
The municipality of Hillesøy was established in 1855 when it was separated from the municipality of Lenvik (or it might have been in 1871–some sources do not concur). The initial population of Hillesøy was 811. On 1 January 1964, Hillesøy municipality ceased to exist. The areas of Hillesøy on Kvaløya as well as all of its islands north of Hekkingen (with 1,316 inhabitants in total) became a part of the enlarged Tromsø municipality. The rest of Hillesøy on the island of Senja and the little island of Hekkingen (with a total of 1,159 inhabitants) was merged back into Lenvik.[1][3]