Phill

Boys' name

Fond of horses, through Phil

Phill has been given to 622 babies in the U.S. since 1900. 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 1960, with 21 recorded.

Babies named Phill, 2005

1 in 769,000

Phill over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Phill: meaning, origin, and history

Fond of horses, through Phil

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Phill means

Phill belongs to the name family reached through Phill → Phil → Φίλιππος. Its meaning is “fond of horses”.

Origin, language, and formation

Phill is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Phil and Φίλιππος.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 622 boys were recorded with the name Phill between 1900 and 2005. Its highest annual count was 21 in 1960; its best national rank was #1,141 in 1900.

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 Phill?

Phill had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2005, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2005: 1 in 769,000; 5 of 3,844,258 births
Among boys only: 1 in 399,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2005: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 532,928 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Phill 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 2005 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 532,928 children born in 2005 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Phill. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Phills were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Phill was born before 1948 — so the typical Phill is around 77 today.

Median birth year: 1948; About 77 years old
Biggest decade: 1940s; 21.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 2.7%; Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950: 280; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1940s — 21.1% of all recorded uses (131).

Is Phill 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 1960 (21)
Years since peak: 65; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 33.8% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,141; 1900

Spellings of Phill

Phill is not the most common spelling — Philip is, with 38.7% against Phill's 0.07%.

Philip38.7%344,036
Phillip35.0%311,561
Bill18.1%160,474
Will5.2%45,952
Phil2.3%20,036
Neill0.21%1,834
Shilo0.14%1,270
Gill0.14%1,218

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Phill 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: #1,141; 1900
Peak year: 1960; 21 that year
First recorded: 1900
Last recorded: 2005
All-time count: 622
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Phill

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

Philo Quill Philipp Hill Kirill Phinehas Philemon Phineas Phi Jill Phillipe Neill Phinneas Jamill Philbert Philippe Gill Estill Philmore Philipe Phil Derrill Phillips Orvill

Sibling names for Phill

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

For a sister

Jannette Joellen Venita Gaye Teressa Maryjo Renita Jeanetta

For a brother

Lindsay Rod Curtiss Dino Bernie Barton Mitch Randell

Explore around Phill

Top names of 1960, Phill's peak year The 1960s in full Other names that peaked in 1900 Boys' names starting with P