Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town located on an island of the same name in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is 20 miles northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and 95 miles southwest of Charleston. The island gets its name from Captain William Hilton. In 1663, Hilton identified a headland near the entrance to Port Royal Sound, which he named "Hilton's Head" after himself. The island features 12 miles of beachfront on the Atlantic Ocean and is a popular vacation destinationThe year-round population was 37,099 at the (2010) although during the peak of summer vacation season the population can swell to 275,000. Over the past decade, the island's population growth rate was 32%.