# Philemon (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/philemon/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | “kindly”, “affectionate”, “to love” |
| Pronunciation | /fɪˈliːmən/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 925 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 925 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 17, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Ancient Greek Φιλήμων (Philḗmōn), from φιλήμων (philḗmōn, “kindly, affectionate”), from φιλέω (philéō, “to love”).

## What it means

Philemon is grouped under love.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 9 | 8,597 |
| 2012 | 16 | 5,661 |
| 2013 | 10 | 7,950 |
| 2014 | 15 | 5,926 |
| 2015 | 15 | 5,923 |
| 2016 | 16 | 5,728 |
| 2017 | 24 | 4,304 |
| 2018 | 16 | 5,720 |
| 2019 | 11 | 7,503 |
| 2020 | 12 | 6,933 |
| 2021 | 21 | 4,737 |
| 2022 | 5 | 13,835 |
| 2023 | 9 | 8,754 |
| 2024 | 7 | 10,657 |
| 2025 | 10 | 8,079 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 3 | 2,859 |
| 2006 | 5 | 2,870 |
| 2008 | 3 | 4,432 |
| 2009 | 3 | 4,527 |
| 2017 | 3 | 4,812 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: فِلِيمُون
- Armenian: Փիլիմոն
- Bulgarian: Филимон
- Chinese: 菲利蒙
- Czech: Filemonovi
- Danish: Filemon
- Dutch: Filemon
- Estonian: Fileemonile
- Finnish: Filemon
- French: Philémon
- German: Philemon
- Greek: Φιλήμων
- Hungarian: Filemon
- Icelandic: Fílemon
- Irish: Filéamón
- Italian: Filemone
- Japanese: ピレモン
- Korean: 필레몬
- Latin: Philemonem
- Latvian: Filemons

## People named Philemon

- Philémon Yang, Cameroonian politician, former Prime minister of Cameroon
- Philemon Dickinson, American politician
- Philemon Holland, English schoolmaster, physician, and Classics translator
- Philemon Dickerson, American politician (1788-1862)
- Philemon Wright, Canadian businessman (1760-1839)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.