Head to head · Boys' names
Phillip vs Princeton
#651 vs #652 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Phillip is a whisker ahead (#651 vs #652 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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 5 measures of 6; Princeton 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: Phillip #151, Princeton — — Phillip higher
- 1890s: Phillip #171, Princeton — — Phillip higher
- 1900s: Phillip #171, Princeton — — Phillip higher
- 1910s: Phillip #175, Princeton — — Phillip higher
- 1920s: Phillip #159, Princeton — — Phillip higher
- 1930s: Phillip #115, Princeton — — Phillip higher
- 1940s: Phillip #77, Princeton — — Phillip higher
- 1950s: Phillip #75, Princeton #3486 — Phillip higher
- 1960s: Phillip #70, Princeton #3599 — Phillip higher
- 1970s: Phillip #71, Princeton #4309 — Phillip higher
- 1980s: Phillip #69, Princeton #1971 — Phillip higher
- 1990s: Phillip #135, Princeton #2446 — Phillip higher
- 2000s: Phillip #260, Princeton #2484 — Phillip higher
- 2010s: Phillip #406, Princeton #602 — Phillip higher
- 2020s: Phillip #585, Princeton #534 — Princeton higher
Phillip stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Princeton took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Phillip | Princeton |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #151 | — |
| 1890s | #171 | — |
| 1900s | #171 | — |
| 1910s | #175 | — |
| 1920s | #159 | — |
| 1930s | #115 | — |
| 1940s | #77 | — |
| 1950s | #75 | #3486 |
| 1960s | #70 | #3599 |
| 1970s | #71 | #4309 |
| 1980s | #69 | #1971 |
| 1990s | #135 | #2446 |
| 2000s | #260 | #2484 |
| 2010s | #406 | #602 |
| 2020s | #585 | #534 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
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.
Princeton
prince's town
The word itself is straightforward English: prince joined to the very old -ton ending, from Old English tūn, meaning an enclosure, farmstead or settlement. What has never been settled is why the New Jersey town was given that name — proposals include a tribute to William of Orange, Prince of Orange, and a local landowner surnamed Prince.
princeps (Latin) → prince (Old French) → tūn (Old English, settlement) → Princeton (English place name, New Jersey) → Princeton (given name)
How it traveled
Princeton began as a settlement in central New Jersey, established by Quaker families in the early eighteenth century and bearing this name by the 1720s. It became a Revolutionary landmark when Washington's army fought there in January 1777, and later gave its name to the college in the town, which formally became Princeton University in the 1890s.
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
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.
Princeton
PRINS-tun
Stress on the first syllable, with the t clearly sounded. Almost no one hesitates over it — the town and the university have made the spelling and the sound familiar across the English-speaking world.
- Prince — The obvious short form, and a well-established given name in its own right in the US.
- P — Initial-only, used informally within families and among friends.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Phillip if you want…
- a long American recordPhillip was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Princeton if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsPrinceton is stepping back from its peak
- a newer arrivalPrinceton entered the US charts in 1950
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
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.
Princeton
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and read correctly on sight by nearly every American, thanks to the town and the university.
- Comes with Prince already built in as a short form — itself a name in independent use.
- Fits an existing pattern of -ton names, so it sits comfortably beside Weston, Colton and Easton in a sibling set or a classroom.
To consider
- The university association is immediate and lifelong. Expect the question about whether the family went there, and expect the occasional joke about admissions. Some people will hear ambition in the name before they hear the child.
- Its wave as a given name is very recent and concentrated in the South and Texas, so it may read as a name of this particular era rather than a name from no time in particular.
- Prince, the natural short form, carries strong associations of its own — worth deciding in advance whether you like it, because others will reach for it.
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 Phillip and Princeton in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Phillip and Princeton?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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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
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- Names ranked #601–1000: known, but barely shared
- Disney names on real birth certificates
- Names that belong entirely to the 1950s
- all guides
Where Phillip and Princeton each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Phillip or Princeton — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Phillip or Princeton?
- Phillip, in 2025: Phillip ranked #651 with 425 babies; Princeton ranked #652 with 422 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Phillip or Princeton?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Phillip moved down 132 places; Princeton moved down 240 places.
- Which is the older name, Phillip or Princeton?
- Phillip was already in use when US records began in 1880; Princeton entered the US charts in 1950. On the American record, Phillip is the older name.
- How many people are named Phillip and Princeton?
- About 232,000 people named Phillip are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 10,000 people named Princeton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Phillips or Princetons in the classroom?
- Phillip will almost certainly be the only one in school. Princeton will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Phillip, Princeton and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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