How Many People Are Named Philip?
An estimated 221,451 people in the United States have the first name Philip. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #239 overall. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 56 years old, and Philip peaked in popularity in 1953 with 6,288 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Philip as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Philip paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Philip is overwhelmingly male, 1,137 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
221,451
About 1 in 1,548 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Male
99.7% confidence
Average Age
56
years old
Peak Year
1953
6,288 births
Total Registered
344,595
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Philip
Philip is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 344,595 total births registered, 99.7% were male.
Philip as a male name
Ranked #521 in 2024
586 male births in 2024
Peak: 1953 (6,279 births)
Philip as a female name
Ranked #15,227 in 1996
5 female births in 1996
Peak: 1985 (36 births)
Philip: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Philip span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 60,950 babies were registered. Philip has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Philip by Decade
How has Philip tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,741 | 1,741 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 2,153 | 2,147 | 6 | |
| 1900s | 2,823 | 2,817 | 6 | |
| 1910s | 18,224 | 18,166 | 58 | |
| 1920s | 27,426 | 27,268 | 158 | |
| 1930s | 28,967 | 28,847 | 120 | |
| 1940s | 48,840 | 48,733 | 107 | |
| 1950s | 60,950 | 60,851 | 99 | |
| 1960s | 44,918 | 44,778 | 140 | |
| 1970s | 31,545 | 31,371 | 174 | |
| 1980s | 35,964 | 35,732 | 232 | |
| 1990s | 20,495 | 20,458 | 37 | |
| 2000s | 10,193 | 10,193 | 0 | |
| 2010s | 7,214 | 7,214 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 3,142 | 3,142 | 0 | |
Philip by State
Birth registrations for Philip span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, California, Pennsylvania. The lowest are in Wyoming, Alaska, Nevada. On average, about 6,575 Philips were registered per state.
Philip + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Philip as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Philip
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
Philip: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Philip?
We estimate approximately 221,451 people named Philip are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 1,548 Americans share this first name.
Is Philip a common name?
Philip is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 344,595 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Philip most popular?
Philip reached peak popularity in 1953, when 6,288 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Philip is approximately 56 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Philip a male name?
Philip is predominantly male. 99.7% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Philip Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Philip Smith, Philip Johnson, Philip Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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