Humanverse

Phillip vs Philomenia

American parents have registered 312,891 Phillips since 1880, against 15 Philomenias. Phillip is still ahead, with 425 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Phillip against Philomenia, 1880 to 2025 0 2k 4k 6k 8k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Phillip Philomenia

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Phillip has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1921, when Phillip had 920 and Philomenia had 10.

Side by side

  Phillip Philomenia
Total US births 312,89115
Most in one year 6,07610
Babies in 2025 425under 5
Estimated living today 227,0000
Median age today 5198
Peak year 19601921
Best rank 66th boys3,164th girls
Rank in 2025 651stunranked
First recorded 18801921
Girls / boys 1,330 / 311,56115 / 0

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Philomenias alive today are over 98; half the Phillips are over 51. That is 47 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Phillip and Philomenia.