Phil
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "friend of horses".
Name Census estimates that about 11,374 living Americans carry the first name Phil. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Phil today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Phil births was 1959 (677 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Phil. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Phil with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Phil is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 72 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Phil is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Phils were born before 1970.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 30,135 Americans
Peak year
1959
677 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,068
Tracked since 1880
Census
Phil in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 26,591 people with the first name Phil, which placed it at #1,349 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
#1,349
National first-name rank
People counted
27K
26,591 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Phil
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Phil is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Black (6.7%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Phil 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 Phil at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.9% · 20,981
- Black or African American6.7% · 1,784
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 1,637
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.3% · 1,399
- Two or more races2.1% · 546
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 244
Gender
Gender distribution for Phil
Out of the 20,098 babies given the name Phil since 1880, 99.6% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Phil as a male name
- Ranked #11,936 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1959 (677 births)
Phil as a female name
- Ranked #7,068 in 1960
- 5 female births in 1960
- Peak: 1923 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Phil appears almost entirely male. Of the 26,593 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Phil: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Phil from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 4,590 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Phil 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 Phil during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Phils live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Phil, while Maine, Montana, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 381 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Phil
The given name Phil is derived from the ancient Greek name Philos, meaning "beloved" or "dear one." It originated in the region of Ancient Greece, where it was a popular name during the classical period.
The name Philos had its roots in the Greek word "philein," which means "to love." It was a common element in many Greek compound names, such as Philokrates (lover of power) and Philodemos (lover of the people).
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Philos can be found in Homer's epic poem, the Iliad, which dates back to the 8th century BC. In the poem, Philos is mentioned as a warrior who fought alongside the Greeks during the Trojan War.
Throughout ancient Greek history, several notable figures bore the name Philos or its variations. One of the most famous was Philolaus (c. 470-390 BC), a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher and mathematician from Croton, Italy. He was a prominent figure in the Pythagorean school of thought and is credited with introducing the concept of the infinite universe.
Another historical figure with this name was Philopoemen (253-183 BC), a skilled military leader and strategist from ancient Greece. He was a prominent figure in the Achaean League and played a crucial role in defending Greek independence against the growing power of the Roman Empire.
In the Byzantine Empire, the name Philos was often Latinized to Philius or Philias. One notable bearer of this name was Philius of Corycus (c. 475-550 AD), a Byzantine philosopher and theologian who made significant contributions to the study of Aristotelian logic and metaphysics.
During the Renaissance period, the name Philos was revived in various European languages, often taking the form of Phil or Philip. One of the most famous bearers of this name was Philip II of Macedon (382-336 BC), the father of Alexander the Great. He was a skilled military strategist and leader who expanded the Macedonian Empire and laid the foundation for his son's conquests.
Another notable figure with this name was Philip Neri (1515-1595), an Italian priest and the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory. He was known for his charitable works and was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church in 1622.
As the name spread throughout Europe, it took on various forms and spellings, such as Philippe in French, Felipe in Spanish, and Philipp in German. This diversity of forms reflects the widespread influence and popularity of the name across different cultures and languages.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Phil
People
Phil + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Phil 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
Phil: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Phil?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,374 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Phil 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 30,135 US residents.
Is Phil a common name?
We classify Phil as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 20,098 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Phil most popular?
The single biggest year for Phil was 1959, when 677 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Phil is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Phil in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 26,591 people with the name Phil, or 8.80 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,349 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 Phil 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 Phil?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Phil appears almost entirely male. Of the 26,593 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Phil?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Phil is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Black (6.7%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Phil most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Phil in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (20,981 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 Phil in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Phil a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Phil 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 Phil still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Phil 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 Phil 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 Phil as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Phil on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.