Head to head · Boys' names
Otis vs Phillip
#652 vs #651 in 2025
Phillip is a whisker ahead (#651 vs #652 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Phillip is stepping back from its peak, Otis is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Otis has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Phillip leads 4 measures of 6; Otis leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Otis #136, Phillip #151 — Otis higher
- 1890s: Otis #122, Phillip #171 — Otis higher
- 1900s: Otis #113, Phillip #171 — Otis higher
- 1910s: Otis #136, Phillip #175 — Otis higher
- 1920s: Otis #161, Phillip #159 — Phillip higher
- 1930s: Otis #181, Phillip #115 — Phillip higher
- 1940s: Otis #209, Phillip #77 — Phillip higher
- 1950s: Otis #263, Phillip #75 — Phillip higher
- 1960s: Otis #348, Phillip #70 — Phillip higher
- 1970s: Otis #427, Phillip #71 — Phillip higher
- 1980s: Otis #598, Phillip #69 — Phillip higher
- 1990s: Otis #992, Phillip #135 — Phillip higher
- 2000s: Otis #1427, Phillip #260 — Phillip higher
- 2010s: Otis #949, Phillip #406 — Phillip higher
- 2020s: Otis #657, Phillip #585 — Phillip higher
Phillip stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Phillip has held the lead since the 1920s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Otis | Phillip |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #136 | #151 |
| 1890s | #122 | #171 |
| 1900s | #113 | #171 |
| 1910s | #136 | #175 |
| 1920s | #161 | #159 |
| 1930s | #181 | #115 |
| 1940s | #209 | #77 |
| 1950s | #263 | #75 |
| 1960s | #348 | #70 |
| 1970s | #427 | #71 |
| 1980s | #598 | #69 |
| 1990s | #992 | #135 |
| 2000s | #1427 | #260 |
| 2010s | #949 | #406 |
| 2020s | #657 | #585 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Otis
- England & Wales#67
Phillip
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Otis
Not established
The surname comes from a medieval given name, a form of the Norman Odo, and what that name meant before it was a name has not been recovered. The readings sometimes offered — wealth, or a Greek word about hearing — belong to other names entirely.
Odo → Otes → Otis
How it traveled
James Otis argued against the writs of assistance in a Boston courtroom, for five hours, and lost — but the argument that a general search warrant was illegal because a man's house is his castle went into the American constitutional tradition and eventually into the Fourth Amendment. John Adams, who was in the room, said the child independence was born there.
Phillip
fond of horses
Two Greek elements, one about loving and one meaning a horse, and the reading is settled. It was an aristocratic name in the Greek world for the obvious reason: horses were what the aristocracy had. The doubled l in this spelling is English and has no counterpart in the Greek or the Latin.
A Greek compound about horses → A Macedonian king who took Greece → An apostle's name across Christian Europe → Phillip as the doubled American spelling
Our story of Phillip — where the record runs out
The name has produced more English surnames than almost any other, and most of them are unrecognizable. The clipped forms of the medieval name — Phip, Phelp, Pot — took the ordinary surname endings and produced Phipps, Phelps, Philpott and half a dozen more, alongside the transparent Philips and Phillipson.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Otis
OH-tis
Two syllables, stress at the front, ending in a soft s. Nothing in the spelling is ambiguous.
- Ote — The front alone, which is about all a two-syllable name this short allows.
- Oti — The name with its final consonant softened, a household form.
Phillip
FIL-ip
Two syllables, stress on the first. The doubled l is inaudible; the standard international spelling has one l and two p's, and this one has the reverse, which is a purely English arrangement.
- Phil — The front, and the standard short form for centuries.
- Pip — The oldest English pet form, and complete in its own right.
- Lip — Cut from the middle, which is unexpected and used among friends.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Otis if you want…
- a name that charts abroad tooOtis is on the national lists of England & Wales
Choose Phillip if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsPhillip is stepping back from its peak
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Otis
Strengths
- It is short, warm and completely unambiguous in English.
- It has genuine American history behind it rather than an invented one.
- It has come back into fashion without ever becoming crowded.
To consider
- For many Americans the name means an elevator company before it means a person.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes, though the boys hold nearly all of it.
- No meaning can honestly be handed to a child with it.
Phillip
Strengths
- Phil and Pip are two well-established short forms.
- It is used across every European language in a recognizable form.
- The meaning is concrete and takes three words to give.
To consider
- Philip with one l is the international spelling and will be written for it.
- The doubling has to be given every time the name is spelled aloud.
- The spelling appears on the register for both sexes in small numbers.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Otis and Phillip in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Otis and Phillip?
Put both to the vote.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- British invasion: UK favorites still rare in the US
- Cottagecore names from a storybook garden
- Grandpa names ready for the playground
- Celebrity baby names that caught on
- all guides
Where Otis and Phillip each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Otis or Phillip — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Otis or Phillip?
- Phillip, in 2025: Phillip ranked #651 with 425 babies; Otis ranked #652 with 422 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Otis or Phillip?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Otis moved down 4 places; Phillip moved down 132 places.
- Which is the older name, Otis or Phillip?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Otis and Phillip?
- About 27,000 people named Otis are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 232,000 people named Phillip are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Otiss or Phillips in the classroom?
- Otis will almost certainly be the only one in school. Phillip will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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