Head to head · Boys' names
Phillip vs Quincy
#651 vs #652 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, Quincy is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Quincy 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; Quincy 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, Quincy #721 — Phillip higher
- 1890s: Phillip #171, Quincy #750 — Phillip higher
- 1900s: Phillip #171, Quincy #782 — Phillip higher
- 1910s: Phillip #175, Quincy #923 — Phillip higher
- 1920s: Phillip #159, Quincy #1058 — Phillip higher
- 1930s: Phillip #115, Quincy #1058 — Phillip higher
- 1940s: Phillip #77, Quincy #1051 — Phillip higher
- 1950s: Phillip #75, Quincy #997 — Phillip higher
- 1960s: Phillip #70, Quincy #846 — Phillip higher
- 1970s: Phillip #71, Quincy #398 — Phillip higher
- 1980s: Phillip #69, Quincy #457 — Phillip higher
- 1990s: Phillip #135, Quincy #497 — Phillip higher
- 2000s: Phillip #260, Quincy #479 — Phillip higher
- 2010s: Phillip #406, Quincy #598 — Phillip higher
- 2020s: Phillip #585, Quincy #653 — Phillip higher
Phillip stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Phillip | Quincy |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #151 | #721 |
| 1890s | #171 | #750 |
| 1900s | #171 | #782 |
| 1910s | #175 | #923 |
| 1920s | #159 | #1058 |
| 1930s | #115 | #1058 |
| 1940s | #77 | #1051 |
| 1950s | #75 | #997 |
| 1960s | #70 | #846 |
| 1970s | #71 | #398 |
| 1980s | #69 | #457 |
| 1990s | #135 | #497 |
| 2000s | #260 | #479 |
| 2010s | #406 | #598 |
| 2020s | #585 | #653 |
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.
Quincy
estate of Quintus — from the Latin name Quintus, 'fifth'
The French place names Quincy come from Gallo-Roman Quintiacum, the holding of a man called Quintius or Quintus. Quintus itself was given in Roman families to a fifth child.
Quintus → Quintiacum → de Quincy → Quincy
How it traveled
There are several villages in France named Quincy, each from a Gallo-Roman landholder's name, and Norman families took the place name with them as a surname — de Quincy turns up among the Anglo-Norman nobility of England and Scotland in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The surname reached colonial New England, where the Quincys of Massachusetts gave their name to a town south of Boston and, through marriage, to the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams.
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.
Quincy
KWIN-see
KWIN-see is the standard pronunciation of the name. The Massachusetts town is locally KWIN-zee, so the occasional person will try that reading first; one correction usually settles it.
- Quin — The most common short form, used informally and in writing alike.
- Quinn — The same sound with the spelling of an independent given name now used for boys and girls.
- Q — An initial used as a nickname, mostly among friends and teammates rather than family.
- Quincey — An older spelling of the full name that also circulates as an affectionate variant.
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 name past its most crowded yearsPhillip is stepping back from its peak
Choose Quincy if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Quincy from Phillip.
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.
Quincy
Strengths
- Instantly spellable for most Americans thanks to the town, the president and the -cy ending; almost no one needs it repeated twice.
- Comes with ready-made short forms — Quin, Quinn, Q — none of which had to be invented.
- Recorded for boys and girls both, so it works either way without becoming a different name.
To consider
- It leans male in the records without settling there. A girl named Quincy will meet forms and teachers that assume a boy — manageable, but worth expecting.
- The spelling competes with Quincey, and Quinn is close enough in sound that people may default to it. Expect to confirm which one you meant.
- The name carries strong cultural associations for adults — a celebrated American musician and a long-running television series — which may come up more with older acquaintances than with classmates.
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 Quincy 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 Quincy?
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
- 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 Quincy each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Phillip or Quincy — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Phillip or Quincy?
- Phillip, in 2025: Phillip ranked #651 with 425 babies; Quincy ranked #652 with 422 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Phillip or Quincy?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Phillip moved down 132 places; Quincy moved down 47 places.
- Which is the older name, Phillip or Quincy?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Phillip and Quincy?
- About 232,000 people named Phillip are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 25,000 people named Quincy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Phillips or Quincys in the classroom?
- Phillip will almost certainly be the only one in school. Quincy 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
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