Filipe
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "lover of horses".
Name Census estimates that about 412 living Americans carry the first name Filipe. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Filipe today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Filipe births was 1992 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Filipe. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
412
~ 1 in 831,928 Americans
Peak year
1992
17 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,070
Tracked since 1975
Popularity
Filipe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Filipe from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 105 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Filipe by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Filipe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Filipes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Filipe, while New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Filipe
The name Filipe has its origins in the Greek language, derived from the Greek name Philippos, which means "lover of horses." It is a variant spelling of the more common English name Philip. The name first appeared in ancient Greek texts and historical records dating back to the 4th century BC.
One of the earliest and most notable figures with this name was Filipe II, also known as Philip II of Macedon, who lived from 382 BC to 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and played a crucial role in the expansion and consolidation of the Macedonian Empire in ancient Greece.
During the medieval period, the name Filipe gained popularity in Portugal and other parts of the Iberian Peninsula. It was widely used among the Portuguese nobility and royal families. One of the most famous Portuguese kings with this name was Filipe I, who reigned from 1581 to 1598. He was also known as Philip II of Spain, as he inherited both the Portuguese and Spanish crowns.
In the 16th century, the name Filipe appeared in the writings of Portuguese explorer and writer Fernão Mendes Pinto, who chronicled his travels through Asia and the Orient. His work, "Peregrinação" (The Travels of Mendes Pinto), published in 1614, is considered a classic of Portuguese literature.
Another notable figure with the name Filipe was Filipe Neri, an Italian priest and saint who lived from 1515 to 1595. He is known as the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory, a religious order dedicated to community life and apostolic works.
In the 20th century, Filipe Duarte, a Portuguese writer and poet, gained recognition for his contributions to Portuguese literature. He was born in 1918 and is best known for his poetry collections, including "A Cidade Invaded" (The Invaded City) and "Os Amantes Inseparáveis" (The Inseparable Lovers).
People
Filipe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Filipe as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Filipe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Filipe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 412 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Filipe going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 831,928 US residents.
Is Filipe a common name?
We classify Filipe as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 423 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Filipe most popular?
The single biggest year for Filipe was 1992, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Filipe is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Filipe a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Filipe in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.