Phill
A masculine name with Greek origins, meaning "horse lover".
Name Census estimates that about 320 living Americans carry the first name Phill. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Phill today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Phill births was 1960 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Phill. 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 Phill is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Phills were born before 1968.
People living today
320
~ 1 in 1,071,107 Americans
Peak year
1960
21 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
2005 SSA rank
#12,857
Tracked since 1900
Popularity
Phill: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Phill from the 1900s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 131 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Phill 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 Phill during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Phill
The name Phill is a masculine given name with origins tracing back to ancient Greek culture. It is a shortened version of the name Phillippos, derived from the Greek words "philos" meaning love or beloved, and "hippos" meaning horse. This combination gave the name the meaning "lover of horses" or "friend of horses."
The name Phillippos was quite popular in ancient Greek times, with several notable historical figures bearing the name. One of the earliest recorded examples is Phillippos of Croton, an ancient Greek Olympic athlete who competed in the 6th century BC and won multiple crowns at the ancient Olympic Games.
Another prominent figure with the name was Phillippos II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. He ruled as the king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon from 359 BC to 336 BC and was known for his military prowess and strategic brilliance.
In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, there is a mention of a man named Phillippos, one of the seven deacons appointed by the Apostles in the early Christian church. This Phillippos is also known as Philip the Evangelist and is recognized as a saint in various Christian traditions.
During the Middle Ages, the name Phillippos evolved into various spellings such as Philippe, Philip, and Phill. One notable figure from this period was Philippe de Valois, who ruled as the King of France from 1328 to 1350 and was a key figure in the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
In the Renaissance era, the name Phill gained popularity among the aristocracy and intellectual circles. One famous bearer of the name was Phill Melanchthon, a German Renaissance humanist, reformer, and collaborator of Martin Luther, who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation.
Other notable historical figures with the name Phill include Phill Massinger, an English playwright from the Jacobean period, Phill Dormer Stanhope, an English nobleman and statesman in the 18th century, and Phill Sheridan, an Irish-born playwright and poet from the late 18th century.
People
Phill + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Phill as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Phill: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Phill?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 320 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Phill 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 1,071,107 US residents.
Is Phill a common name?
We classify Phill as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 623 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Phill most popular?
The single biggest year for Phill was 1960, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Phill is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Phill a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Phill 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.