Phylicia
A feminine name derived from Greek, meaning "lover of nature".
Name Census estimates that about 2,280 living Americans carry the first name Phylicia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Phylicia today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Phylicia births was 1987 (289 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Phylicia. 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
2.3K
~ 1 in 150,331 Americans
Peak year
1987
289 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2014 SSA rank
#16,071
Tracked since 1968
Census
Phylicia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,122 people with the first name Phylicia, which placed it at #7,246 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
#7,246
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,122 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
59.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Phylicia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Phylicia is Black at 59.6%. The next largest groups are White (21.9%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Phylicia 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 Phylicia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American59.6% · 1,264
- White21.9% · 464
- Hispanic or Latino9.6% · 203
- Two or more races5.3% · 112
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 29
Popularity
Phylicia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Phylicia from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 1,203 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Phylicia 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 Phylicia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Phylicias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Phylicia, while Washington, Oklahoma, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Phylicia
The given name Phylicia has its origins in the ancient Greek language. It is derived from the Greek word "phylax," which means "guardian" or "protector." This name likely emerged during the classical period of ancient Greek civilization, which spanned from the 5th to 4th centuries BCE.
Phylicia was a relatively uncommon name in ancient Greece, but it did appear in some historical records and texts. One notable example is the Greek philosopher Phylicius, who lived in the 4th century BCE and was a student of Aristotle. He wrote several philosophical treatises, although only fragments of his works have survived.
The name Phylicia experienced a resurgence in popularity during the Byzantine era, which lasted from the 4th to the 15th century CE. During this period, the Byzantine Empire was heavily influenced by Greek culture and language, and many Greek names were revived and used among the aristocracy and ruling classes.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Phylicia can be found in the "Chronicon Paschale," a 7th-century Byzantine chronicle that documented events from the creation of the world to the reign of Emperor Heraclius (610-641 CE). The chronicle mentions a woman named Phylicia who lived in Constantinople during the 6th century CE.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Phylicia. One of the most famous was Phylicia Rashad, an American actress born in 1948. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the popular television sitcom "The Cosby Show," which aired from 1984 to 1992. Rashad has won numerous awards for her acting, including two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award.
Another notable Phylicia was Phylicia Arters-Douglass, an American singer and songwriter born in 1971. She was a member of the R&B group Intro and later pursued a solo career, releasing several albums in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In the field of sports, Phylicia George was a Canadian basketball player who represented Canada at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She played professionally in several leagues, including the WNBA and various European leagues.
Phylicia Munn was an American author and illustrator of children's books, including "Zekmet the Stone Carver" and "The First Strawberries," both published in the early 1900s. She was known for her detailed illustrations and stories that often incorporated elements of Native American folklore and culture.
Phylicia Crichton was a British author and journalist who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She wrote several novels and non-fiction works, including "The Peril of Change" and "The Scar That Tripled," both published in the early 1900s.
People
Phylicia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Phylicia 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
Phylicia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Phylicia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,280 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Phylicia 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 150,331 US residents.
Is Phylicia a common name?
We classify Phylicia as "Rare". It ranks above 94.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,381 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Phylicia most popular?
The single biggest year for Phylicia was 1987, when 289 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Phylicia 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 Phylicia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,122 people with the name Phylicia, or 0.70 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,246 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 Phylicia 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 Phylicia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Phylicia appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,124 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Phylicia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Phylicia is Black at 59.6%. The next largest groups are White (21.9%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Phylicia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Phylicia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.6% (1,264 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 Phylicia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Phylicia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Phylicia 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 Phylicia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Phylicia 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 Phylicia 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 Americans are named Phylicia?
You can see how many Americans are named Phylicia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.