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Phillis vs Philomenia

American parents have registered 3,683 Phillises since 1880, against 15 Philomenias. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Phillis against Philomenia, 1880 to 2025 0 30 60 90 120 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Phillis 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

Phillis has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1882 to 2000. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1921, when Phillis had 35 and Philomenia had 10.

Side by side

  Phillis Philomenia
Total US births 3,68315
Most in one year 11810
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 2,0000
Median age today 6998
Peak year 19491921
Best rank 800th girls3,164th girls
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 18821921
Girls / boys 3,677 / 615 / 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 Phillises are over 69. That is 29 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: Phillis and Philomenia.