Philippa
Feminine · “lover of horses”
Philippa is Philip made feminine in the Latin way, and the Greek behind it is unexpectedly concrete: not a virtue or a blessing but a fondness for horses. Greek naming did that often, and it is one of the pleasures of the older stock.
How old is the name Philippa?
Philippa first appears in US birth records in 1910 — 115 years ago. The typical Philippa alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 1,600 people named Philippa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Philippa most popular?
Philippa peaked in 1918, reaching #1963 nationally. Today it ranks #2778, 815 places below that high. See the whole 1918 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Philippos to Philippa
The story of Philippa
Philip was a Macedonian royal name long before it was a Christian one, and it came into Europe twice over — through the kings and through the apostle. The feminine Philippa was used in medieval England, most visibly by a fourteenth-century queen consort, and it has stayed in continuous if never heavy use in Britain since. American records show it thinly and steadily, with a visible presence around the early twentieth century. It has never been common in the United States in the way it has in Britain, where it remains an ordinary name.
Meaning
lover of horses
Greek Philippos joins philos, 'loving, dear', to hippos, 'horse'. The compound is transparent and undisputed. Horses meant cavalry and therefore status in the Greek world, so a name of this kind was not a whimsy; Philippa is the Latin feminine, formed as Julia is formed from Julius.
How the name formed
- Philippos
- Philippa
Related forms: Philippine · Filippa · Felipa · Philippa · Filippa
Pronouncing Philippa
fil-IP-uh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The ph is said as an f, as it is in Philip. FIL-ip-uh, with the stress at the front, is heard in American English and is less common in Britain.
Nicknames for Philippa
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1910
- Most girls named
- 201773 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1963reached in 1918
- Change vs 2023
- −9.0%61 in 2025, from 67
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Philippa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Philippine in French — same name
- Filippa in Italian — same name
- Felipa in Spanish — same name
- Philippa in German — same name
- Filippa in Dutch — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Virginia.
Philippas among us
people named Philippa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 26,349 born in 2025 was named Philippa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Philippa
- #2778
- Philippa on the 2025 chart
- #888
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Philippa went to 61 girls in 2025, but Filippa and Phillipa are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 72, which makes it the 888th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,890 places above the chart.
- Philippa61
- Filippa6
- Phillipa5
About 1 girl in 22,323 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 26,349 for Philippa itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Philippa sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Philippa is headed
Philippa should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Philippa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Philippa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Pippa and Pip are two excellent short forms, both fully established and both usable for life.
- A documented classical origin with a meaning that is concrete rather than abstract.
- Long enough to feel formal with short forms ready for every other occasion.
- Philippa, Phillipa and Philipa are all in use, and the double letters get lost in writing.
- In the United States it is unfamiliar enough that Philippe and Phillipa will both be assumed.
- The ph will be read as a p by some people meeting it for the first time in print.
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What they receive
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Philippa
Feminine · #2778 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Philippas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Philippa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Philippa?
- Philippa is the most-used spelling in US records — 61 of the 72 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Filippa and Phillipa.
- How popular is the name Philippa in 2025?
- Philippa ranks #2778 among US girl names in 2025, with 61 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Philippa?
- About 1 in every 26,349 US girls born in 2025 was named Philippa — 61 in all.
- Will my child share the name Philippa with classmates?
- Philippa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Philippa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenia#2778 · Amour#2778 · Wynona#2778 · Joie#2778 · Bennie#2778 · Havyn#2778 · Wisdom#2778 · Aela#2778
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Philippa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Philippa and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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