Flip
A diminutive of Philip, derived from the Greek meaning "lover of horses".
Name Census estimates that about 4 living Americans carry the first name Flip. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Flip today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Flip births was 1960 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Flip. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Flip is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Flips were born before 1968.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Flip. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
4
~ 1 in 85,688,585 Americans
Peak year
1960
5 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1960 SSA rank
#4,234
Tracked since 1960
Popularity
Flip: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Flip 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 Flip during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Flip
Flip is a diminutive form of the given name Philip. The name Philip has its origins in the Greek language and is derived from the words "philos" meaning love or lover, and "hippos" meaning horse. Thus, the name Philip translates to "lover of horses." This name first emerged during ancient Greek and Roman times.
The name Philip appears in several prominent historical texts and records from antiquity. In the New Testament of the Bible, Philip is mentioned as one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. Additionally, Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, bore this name. Philip was a common name among Greek and Roman rulers, with examples including Philip the Arab, a Roman emperor who reigned from 244 to 249 AD, and Philip I, Duke of Burgundy, who lived from 1346 to 1361.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the diminutive form Flip was Flip Philips (1508-1568), a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his landscape and history paintings. Another notable bearer of the name was Flip Wilson (1933-1998), an American comedian and actor who gained fame in the 1970s for his television show "The Flip Wilson Show."
Other historical figures with the first name Flip include Flip Saunders (1955-2015), an American professional basketball coach who led the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons in the NBA. Flip Frandsen (born 1953) is a former Major League Baseball player who spent most of his career with the San Francisco Giants in the 1970s and 1980s.
Flip Saunders (1922-2005), an American football player and coach, played in the National Football League for the Detroit Lions and later coached the San Diego Chargers in the 1960s. Flip Putthoff (born 1944) was a professional basketball player who played for the Seattle SuperSonics and the Phoenix Suns in the 1970s.
People
Flip + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Flip 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
Flip: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Flip?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Flip 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 85,688,585 US residents.
Is Flip a common name?
We classify Flip as "Very Rare". It ranks above 6.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Flip most popular?
The single biggest year for Flip was 1960, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Flip is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Flip in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Flip a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Flip 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.
Is Flip still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Flip in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Flip can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Flip?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Flip, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.