Phyliss
Feminine · “foliage”
The three spellings of this name each double a different letter. Phyllis doubles the l, Phyliss doubles the s, and Phillis doubles neither in the same place — three families, three decisions, and only one of them has anything to do with Greek.
How old is the name Phyliss?
Phyliss first appears in US birth records in 1909 — 116 years ago. The typical Phyliss alive today was born around 1946, making them about 79 years old. About 1,300 people named Phyliss are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Phyliss most popular?
Phyliss peaked in 1941, reaching #993 nationally. See the whole 1941 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Phyllis to Phyliss
The story of Phyliss
Doubling a consonant in English marks the vowel before it as short, and this name has two candidates for the treatment. Doubling the l says the first vowel is short; doubling the s says the second one is, which it is anyway. So the l doubling does real work and the s doubling is decoration — and the standard spelling chose the one that works. Phyliss reverses that, which is why it looks slightly wrong to a reader who could not say why. Both are said identically.
Meaning
foliage, greenery
The Greek word means leaves or green growth. Neither doubled consonant is in the Greek; both are English devices about vowel length.
How the name formed
- Phyllis
- Phyliss
Pronouncing Phyliss
FIL-iss
Two syllables with the weight at the front. All the spellings of this name are said identically.
Nicknames for Phyliss
Moderate
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
- 1909
- Most girls named
- 195170 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #993reached in 1941
- Change vs 1981
- −14.3%6 in 1983, from 7
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.
Phylisss among us
people named Phyliss are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Phyliss sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is said correctly by everyone who has met any spelling of the name.
- The meaning is concrete and green, and the Greek story attached to it is memorable.
- It sits behind a name with a documented literary history of two thousand years.
- Phyllis is the standard spelling and will be written instead, every time.
- The doubled s does no work, which is why the spelling looks off to careful readers.
- It reads clearly as a name of the first half of the twentieth century.
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Phyliss
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Phylisss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Phyliss are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Phyliss in 2025?
- Phyliss is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Phyliss with classmates?
- Phyliss will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Patricia#1334 · Pamela#2239 · Phyllis#11932 · Peggy#8362 · Paula#853 · Pauline#2957 · Pearl#776 · Paige#346
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Phyliss? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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