Phillip

Meaning: Horse lover
Origin: Variant of Philip (from Ancient Greek)

Nicknames: Phill, Pip

Boy's name · #651 in the US (2025) · Timeless

Popularity over time

Phillip holds its lane: charted since 1880 and rarely far from where it stands today (#651 in 2025). About 312,000 boys have carried it along the way. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Phillip is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 36 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Phillip ranks in other countries and regions.

#269 in Norway (2025) · #944 in Austria (2025) · #1,262 in England & Wales (2025) · #788 in Canada (2024).

Famous Phillips

Phillip Cocu — Dutch association football player and manager (born 1970)
Phillip Sharp — American biologist
Phillip Hughes — Australian cricketer (1988–2014)
Phillip Noyce — Australian film director
Phillip Phillips — American singer (born 1990)

In stories & tradition

Phillip (Phil Coulson) — Iron Man 2 (film)
Phillip Jeffries — Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (film)
Phillip Spaulding — Guiding Light (TV series)

What Phillips become

Among 1,021 notable people named Phillip:

Sports figures appear 1.25× more often than among typical names — e.g. Phillip Cocu, Dutch association football player and manager (born 1970).

Spellings & nicknames

Together with its spelling variant Philip (#528), Phillip would rank around #337 with about 990 births last year — the newborns split about 57/43 between Philip and Phillip.

Similar names: Philip · Johnny · Finnley · Tommy · Jimmy · Stephen

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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