# Philip (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/philip/  
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 | “fond of horses”, “to love”, “horse” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfɪlɪp/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Phil |
| Variant spellings | Phillip, Filipp, Phillipp |
| US babies named this | 345,173 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 344,036 / 1,137 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 5,068, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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”).

## What it means

Philip is grouped under horse and 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, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 20 | 3,953 |
| 1981 | 30 | 2,966 |
| 1982 | 25 | 3,393 |
| 1983 | 19 | 4,067 |
| 1984 | 19 | 4,119 |
| 1985 | 36 | 2,688 |
| 1986 | 25 | 3,521 |
| 1987 | 22 | 3,946 |
| 1988 | 21 | 4,273 |
| 1989 | 15 | 5,766 |
| 1990 | 10 | 8,337 |
| 1991 | 10 | 8,423 |
| 1992 | 5 | 14,899 |
| 1994 | 7 | 11,439 |
| 1996 | 5 | 15,227 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 696 | 407 |
| 2012 | 715 | 408 |
| 2013 | 769 | 387 |
| 2014 | 799 | 389 |
| 2015 | 708 | 433 |
| 2016 | 712 | 435 |
| 2017 | 729 | 426 |
| 2018 | 693 | 437 |
| 2019 | 696 | 439 |
| 2020 | 658 | 453 |
| 2021 | 675 | 452 |
| 2022 | 619 | 493 |
| 2023 | 605 | 499 |
| 2024 | 588 | 521 |
| 2025 | 568 | 528 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 121 | 356 |
| 2012 | 172 | 271 |
| 2013 | 154 | 288 |
| 2014 | 160 | 288 |
| 2015 | 149 | 313 |
| 2016 | 146 | 322 |
| 2017 | 106 | 414 |
| 2018 | 112 | 387 |
| 2019 | 110 | 396 |
| 2020 | 121 | 359 |
| 2021 | 134 | 339 |
| 2022 | 110 | 385 |
| 2023 | 90 | 439 |
| 2024 | 87 | 461 |
| 2025 | 71 | 549 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: فِيلِيب, فِيلِبُس, فِيلِيبُوس
- Armenian: Փիլիպպոս, Ֆիլիպ
- Bulgarian: Фи́лип
- Catalan: Felip
- Chinese: 菲利普
- Czech: Filip
- Danish: Filip
- Dutch: Filip, Philip
- Esperanto: Filipo
- Finnish: Vilppu
- French: Philippe
- Georgian: ფილიპე
- German: Philipp
- Greek: Φίλιππος, Φίλιπ
- Hindi: फ़िलिप
- Hungarian: Fülöp
- Icelandic: Filip
- Indonesian: Filipus
- Irish: Pilib
- Italian: Filippo

## People named Philip

- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Elizabeth II from 1952 to 2021 (1921-2021)
- Philip K. Dick, American science fiction author (1928–1982)
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor (1967–2014)
- Philip Roth, American novelist (1933–2018)
- Philip Pullman, English author (born 1946)
- Philip W. Anderson, American physicist (1923-2020)
- Philip Johnson, American architect (1906–2005)
- Philip Glass, American composer (born 1937)
- Philip Reeve, English children's writer and illustrator
- Philip Sidney, English poet, courtier, diplomat (1554-1586)
- Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, British athlete, politician, Cabinet minister, life peer and Nobel Peace Prize winner (188
- Philip Showalter Hench, American physician (1896-1965)

## 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.