Phyllicia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "lover of foliage or greenery".
Name Census estimates that about 129 living Americans carry the first name Phyllicia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Phyllicia today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Phyllicia births was 1989 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Phyllicia. 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
129
~ 1 in 2,657,010 Americans
Peak year
1989
18 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1998 SSA rank
#15,939
Tracked since 1984
Census
Phyllicia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 138 people with the first name Phyllicia, which placed it at #47,373 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
#47,373
National first-name rank
People counted
138
138 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
53.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Phyllicia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Phyllicia is Black at 53.6%. The next largest groups are White (25.4%) and Hispanic (8.7%). 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 Phyllicia 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 Phyllicia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American53.6% · 74
- White25.4% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 12
- Two or more races8.0% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 2
Popularity
Phyllicia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Phyllicia from the 1980s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 80 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Phyllicia 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 Phyllicia 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 Phyllicia
The name Phyllicia finds its origins in Ancient Greek, deriving from the word "phyllon," which translates to "leaf" or "foliage." This connection to nature and flora suggests the name may have been given to individuals born during the spring or summer months, or perhaps those with a deep appreciation for the natural world.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Phyllicia can be traced back to the 4th century BCE, when a Greek philosopher and botanist named Phyllicia of Ephesus was renowned for her extensive knowledge of plants and their medicinal properties. Her writings, though now lost, were highly influential in the field of natural sciences during that era.
In the 1st century CE, the name appears in the writings of Pliny the Elder, a Roman author and naturalist. He mentions a woman named Phyllicia who was celebrated for her expertise in cultivating and hybridizing various species of roses, contributing to the development of horticulture in the Roman Empire.
During the Byzantine era, a notable figure named Phyllicia of Constantinople (born around 520 CE) gained recognition as a skilled illuminator and calligrapher. Her intricate and beautifully illustrated manuscripts were highly sought after by scholars and nobility alike, earning her a place in the annals of Byzantine art history.
In the 12th century, Phyllicia of Trebizond (1120-1190) was a renowned poet and philosopher whose works explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition. Her poetic anthology, "The Garden of Delights," was widely circulated and admired throughout the Byzantine Empire and beyond.
Fast-forwarding to the 16th century, Phyllicia Browne (1550-1618) was an English herbalist and apothecary who played a significant role in the advancement of traditional medicine. Her extensive knowledge of medicinal plants and their applications earned her a reputation as a skilled healer, and her remedies were sought after by people from all walks of life.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Phyllicia, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human culture and knowledge.
People
Phyllicia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Phyllicia 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
Phyllicia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Phyllicia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 129 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Phyllicia 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 2,657,010 US residents.
Is Phyllicia a common name?
We classify Phyllicia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 135 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Phyllicia most popular?
The single biggest year for Phyllicia was 1989, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Phyllicia is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Phyllicia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 138 people with the name Phyllicia, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,373 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 Phyllicia 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 Phyllicia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Phyllicia appears almost entirely female. Of the 133 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Phyllicia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Phyllicia is Black at 53.6%. The next largest groups are White (25.4%) and Hispanic (8.7%). 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 Phyllicia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Phyllicia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.6% (74 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 Phyllicia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Phyllicia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Phyllicia in the SSA data are female. 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 Phyllicia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Phyllicia 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 Phyllicia 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 many people have Phyllicia as a first name?
Want to know how many people share the name Phyllicia? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.