Philp
Lover of horses, from the Greek elements philos "lover" and hippos "horse".
Name Census estimates that about 3 living Americans carry the first name Philp. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Philp today is around 86 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Philp births was 1951 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Philp. 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 Philp is about 86 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Philps were born before 1950.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Philp. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
3
~ 1 in 114,251,446 Americans
Peak year
1951
5 babies that year
Average age
86
years old
1951 SSA rank
#4,118
Tracked since 1951
Census
Philp in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 701 people with the first name Philp, which placed it at #16,182 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#16,182
National first-name rank
People counted
701
701 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Philp
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Philp is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Black (10.0%) and Hispanic (9.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Philp described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Philp at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.6% · 516
- Black or African American10.0% · 70
- Hispanic or Latino9.4% · 66
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 25
- Two or more races2.7% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 5
Popularity
Philp: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Philp 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 Philp during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Philp
The name Philp is a variant spelling of the more common Philip, which derives from the Greek name Philippos. The etymology of Philippos traces back to the Greek words philos, meaning "lover of," and hippos, meaning "horse." Therefore, the name Philp essentially means "lover of horses."
This name has its roots in ancient Greece, where it was a popular choice for male children. It was borne by several notable figures in Greek mythology and history, including Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. Philip II lived from 382 to 336 BC and played a pivotal role in establishing the Macedonian Empire.
During the Middle Ages, the name Philp gained widespread popularity across Europe, particularly in regions influenced by the Byzantine Empire. It was a common name among the nobility and upper classes, as the horse held great significance as a symbol of power and status.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Philp can be found in the writings of the 9th-century scholar and theologian, Rabanus Maurus. He mentions a monk named Philp who lived in the Benedictine monastery of Fulda in present-day Germany.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Philp. One prominent example is Philp the Chancellor, a 12th-century English churchman and statesman who served as the Lord Chancellor of England from 1199 to 1205. Another notable figure is Philp de Montfort, a 13th-century French nobleman and crusader who participated in the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in southern France.
In the realm of literature, the name Philp has been immortalized in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, the renowned English poet of the 14th century. One of the characters in his famous work, The Canterbury Tales, is a young squire named Philp.
During the Renaissance period, Philp Sidney (1554-1586), an English poet, courtier, and soldier, gained fame for his contributions to English literature and his military service. He is remembered as one of the most influential figures of the Elizabethan era.
In more recent times, Philp K. Dick (1928-1982), the celebrated American science fiction writer, has left an indelible mark on the literary world with his imaginative and thought-provoking works, such as "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and "The Man in the High Castle."
These are just a few examples of the diverse range of individuals who have carried the name Philp throughout history, each leaving their unique imprint on various aspects of human civilization.
People
Philp + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Philp 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
Philp: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Philp?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Philp 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 114,251,446 US residents.
Is Philp a common name?
We classify Philp as "Very Rare". It ranks above 4.9% 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 Philp most popular?
The single biggest year for Philp was 1951, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Philp is about 86 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Philp in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 701 people with the name Philp, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,182 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Philp in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Philp?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Philp appears almost entirely male. Of the 701 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Philp?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Philp is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Black (10.0%) and Hispanic (9.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Philp most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Philp in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.6% (516 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Philp in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Philp a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Philp 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 Philp still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Philp 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 Philp 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.
How common is the name Philp?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Philp at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.