Given name & surname
Philip
“one who loves horses”
Philip has a related form in Phillip. One Greek interpretation is “one who loves horses.”
Original GreekΦίλιππος
Meaning & origin
What it means
Philip has a related form in Phillip. One Greek interpretation is “one who loves horses.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
How it developed
Philip developed from Greek Philippos. The earlier name combines philein (“to love”) and hippos (“horse”).
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Philip appears in Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:14 and 8 other passages.
- Matthew 10:3
- Mark 3:18
- Luke 6:14
- John 1:43-48
- Acts 1:13
- Acts 6:5
- Acts 21:8
- Acts 8:5-13
- Matthew 14:3
- Mark 6:17
- Luke 3:1
From biblical name research
Philip through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 345,173
- 344,036 boys · 1,137 girls
- Most popular year
- 1953
- 6,288 babies
- 2025
- 568
- #528 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −12%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 568 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 528 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 12.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (52). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 223,037 as a first name in 2020; 6,790 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Philip’s family of names
In English usage, Philip has a diminutive in Phil. Philip shares a linguistic root with Felipe. In Middle English usage, Philip has a related form in Phillip.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Philip has relatives in 35 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Philip comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 31
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Phillipvariant · Middle English, German
- Felipevariant · Portuguese, Spanish
- Filipvariant · Slovak, German
- Philshort form · English
- Philippvariant · German
- Philsondiminutive · English
- Philpindiminutive · English
- Philpotsdiminutive · English
Show 23 moreShow fewer
- Phillottdiminutive · English
- Philleypet form · English
- Mckibbenpet form · English
- Phipparddiminutive · English
- Philcoxshort form · English
- Phippenpet form · English
- Phippdiminutive · English
- Phipsdiminutive · English
- Phipsondiminutive · English
- Filsondiminutive · English
- Filkinsdiminutive · English
- Philpottsdiminutive · English
- Phillpottsdiminutive · English
- Phillpotsdiminutive · English
- Philpottdiminutive · English
- Philpotdiminutive · English
- Phillpottdiminutive · English
- Phillpotdiminutive · English
- Filldiminutive · English
- Filkindiminutive · English
- Phippsdiminutive · English
- Pipdiminutive · English
- Philippivariant · German
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 49
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Φίλιπποςroot · Greek, Ancient Greek
- ΦίλιπGreek
- Philippafeminine form · English
- Philippecognate · French
- Filippocognate · Italian
- FilipePortuguese
- Fellipeequivalent
- Phillipeequivalent
Show 41 moreShow fewer
- Filipposequivalent
- Filipafeminine form
- Philipsequivalent
- Filippequivalent
- Philipoequivalent
- Pilipequivalent
- Pylypequivalent
- Phylipequivalent
- Филипъequivalent
- ഫിലിപ്പോസ്equivalent
- Pilypasequivalent
- Пилипequivalent
- Філіпequivalent
- ⲫⲓⲗⲓⲡⲡⲟⲥequivalent
- Ph'lippeequivalent
- prwypwsꜣequivalent
- فيليبوسequivalent
- فيلبسequivalent
- فيليبequivalent
- Flipeequivalent
- Phelipeequivalent
- Philipson“son of” surname · English
- 菲利普Chinese
- ФилиппRussian
- Philbinpatronymic from · English
- Fīlipscognate · Latvian
- Filippusequivalent
- PhilippusLatin
- ПіліпBelarusian
- Fülöpcognate · Hungarian
- 필립Korean
- Vilppucognate · Finnish
- ФилипMacedonian, Serbo-Croatian
- Felipcognate · Catalan
- PiripiMāori
- ՓիլիպպոսClassical Armenian, Armenian
- فیلیپPersian
- FilipsLatvian
- Pilibcognate · Irish
- PilipoHawaiian
- Filibcognate
See also 7
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Philip
- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburghconsort of Elizabeth II from 1952 to 2021 (1921-2021)
- Anthony HopkinsWelsh–American actor and director (born 1937)
- Philip K. DickAmerican science fiction author (1928–1982)
- Philip Seymour HoffmanAmerican actor (1967–2014)
- Philip RothAmerican novelist (1933–2018)
- Philip IV of FranceKing of France from 1285 to 1314 (1268–1314)
- Philip II of FranceKing of France, and the first to be called by that title (1165–1223)
- Philip PullmanEnglish authorborn 1946
- Philip W. AndersonAmerican physicist (1923-2020)
Characters named Philip: Philip Marlowe (fictional character created by Raymond Chandler), Philip J. Fry (main character in the television show Futurama).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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