Philippa

What Philippa means

Feminine form of Philip, meaning “fond of horses”

feminine form of Philip || From Middle English Philip, ultimately from Ancient Greek Φίλιππος (Phílippos), name of ancient kings of Macedonia, from φίλιππος (phílippos, “fond of horses”), from φιλέω (philéō, “to love”) +‎ ἵππος (híppos, “horse”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Philippa” (revision 88748261) and “Philip” (revision 94867800), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Philippa?

US: Steady: #2846 in 2015, #2778 now. England & Wales: Steady: #316 in 2015, #337 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2022, when 75 girls got the name (#2425 that year). First in the US records in 1910.

How common

• About 1 in 26,349 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,979 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 4,473 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NY (0.08 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Philippa is #2778 in the US and #337 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Philippa were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the UK pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Filippa6 US · 6 E&W
• Phillipa5 US · 4 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Nicknames

• Phil
• Pippa

Listed on Wiktionary under “pet forms”.

If you like Philippa

Girls

• Lena#279“the Large River”^*
• Cora#113“maiden”^*
• Athena#109Editor’s note Up from #157 in 2015 to #109 in 2025 in the US
• Ophelia#264possibly “help, aid, succour”^*
• Penelope#22possibly “duck”^*
• Elena#42Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #106 in 2015, #42 in 2025. 5 letters, starting with a vowel

For a brother

• Leonidas#510“son of Leon / lion”^*
• Theo#82Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #405 in 2015, #82 in 2025
• Azariah#472“Yah Has Helped”^*
• Niko#325Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1962, with 5 babies
• Theodore#4Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #99 in 2015, #4 in 2025
• Leon#138“lion”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Philippa’s. Rank is US 2025.