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Phi

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Literal meaning not recorded; Chinese origin

Phi has been given to 519 babies in the U.S. since 1976. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1992, with 26 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 91% boys, 9% girls all-time.

Babies named Phi, 2015

1 in 370,000

Phi over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010203018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Phi over time

In 2015, Phi went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19762015

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Phi: meaning, origin, and history

Literal meaning not recorded; Chinese origin

Chinese

What Phi means

Phi is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Phi is used in Vietnamese. Its origins include Chinese.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Vietnamese, Phi is pronounced [fi˧˧].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 474 boys were recorded with the name Phi between 1976 and 2015. Its highest annual count was 26 in 1992; its best national rank was #2,406 in 1986.

In the United States, 45 girls were recorded with the name Phi between 1981 and 2009. Its highest annual count was 8 in 1996; its best national rank was #10,100 in 1982.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Phi?

Phi had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2015, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2015
1 in 370,000
10 of 3,701,574 births
Among boys only
1 in 192,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2015
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
256,575 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Phi sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2015 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 256,575 children born in 2015 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Phi. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Phis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Phi was born before 1992 — so the typical Phi is around 33 today.

Median birth year
1992
About 33 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
36.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
57.2%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
474
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 36.1% of all recorded uses (171).

Is Phi rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1992 (26)
Years since peak
33
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
43.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,406
1986

Where Phi is used

Across 1910–2025, Phi was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 281,616 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Phi has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Phi around the world

Where Phi ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2005–2005
    #3,849
    in 2005
  • France
    1983–2003
    #4,309
    in 2003
  • Canada
    1996–1999
    #2,002
    in 1999
  • South Australia
    1980–2013
    #754
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Phi by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,406
1986
Peak year
1992
26 that year
First recorded
1976
Last recorded
2015
All-time count
474
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#10,100
1982
Peak year
1996
8 that year
First recorded
1981
Last recorded
2009
All-time count
45
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Phi

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

PhiloPhillNephiPhilippPhinehasPhilemonPhilPhineasPhinneasPhillipePhilmorePhilipePhillpPhilbertPhilippePhinnPhillipsPhilanderPhilopaterPhillippePhinPhilipposPhinleyPhilopateer

Sibling names for Phi

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Phi

Top names of 1992, Phi's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1986Boys' names starting with P