Phillip

What Phillip means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Phillip yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 6,047 babies; 425 in 2025 Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Phillip?

US: Falling: down from #408 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #740 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1949, when 5,201 boys got the name (#66 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 4,019 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 11,823 baby boys in England and Wales 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 SD (1.3 per 1,000 boys), KY (0.68 per 1,000 boys), AL (0.65 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Phillip is #651 in the US and #1226 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Phillip were boys.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Philip568 US · 71 E&W
• Philipp5 US

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

If you like Phillip

Boys

• Gregory#593“watchful, vigilant”^*
• Stephen#383“crown, wreath”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*
• Steven#271“crown, wreath”^*
• Dennis#707“follower of (the wine god) Dionysus”^*
• Christopher#68“carrier of Christ”^*

For a sister

• Melissa#419“bee, honey, or honeybee”^*
• Christina#770Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 16,600 babies; 352 in 2025
• Teresa#908Editor’s note Down from #664 in 2015 to #908 in 2025 in the US
• Nicole#382Form of Nicholas, meaning “victory + people”^*
• Cassandra#630Editor’s note Down from #512 in 2015 to #630 in 2025 in the US
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*

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 Phillip’s. Rank is US 2025.