Phillip Witherspoon
There are approximately 10 people named Phillip Witherspoon living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 34,275,434 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Phillip with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Witherspoon. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
10
1 in 34,275,434
Named Phillip
239K
Alive today
Named Witherspoon
14K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 239K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1960
Average age: 52
Top Census group: White (72.0%)
Estimated bearers: 14K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #2,833
Per 100K: 4.14
Top ancestry: Black (59.9%)
First name trend
Phillip: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Phillip. The peak year was 1960 with 6,072 births. The average person named Phillip today is 52 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Phillip
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Phillip, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 72.0%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Phillip described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Phillip at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White72.0% · 156,075
- Black or African American13.0% · 28,229
- Hispanic or Latino7.7% · 16,671
- Two or more races3.3% · 7,158
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 6,374
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2,243
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Witherspoon surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Witherspoon, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is Black at 59.9%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Witherspoon described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Witherspoon at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- Black or African American59.9% · 7,412
- White30.9% · 3,825
- Two or more races5.3% · 654
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 383
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 53
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 47
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Phillip has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0696% of the US population, based on 238,727 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Phillip right now.
The surname Witherspoon appears at a rate of 4.14 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0041%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 10 people with the full name Phillip Witherspoon. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Phillip
Related
Other people with the surname Witherspoon
FAQ
Phillip Witherspoon: questions and answers
How many people are named Phillip Witherspoon?
We estimate approximately 10 people in the United States share the full name Phillip Witherspoon. That works out to about 1 in 34,275,434 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0696%) with the surname frequency (4.14 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Phillip Witherspoon?
We classify Phillip Witherspoon as "Very Rare". About 1 in 34,275,434 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Phillip a male or female name?
Phillip is predominantly male. Out of 312,450 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full Phillip profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people have the full name Phillip Witherspoon?
Want to know how many people are called Phillip Witherspoon? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.