Phylliss
Feminine · “A spelling of Phyllis”
Phylliss is Phyllis with a doubled s, a spelling of the Greek name for foliage. The same Greek leaf is inside phyllo pastry, and the name belongs to a comedian who began her career when most people thought it was too late.
How old is the name Phylliss?
Phylliss first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Phylliss alive today was born around 1946, making them about 79 years old. About 300 people named Phylliss are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Phylliss most popular?
Phylliss peaked in 1939, reaching #1797 nationally. See the whole 1939 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From phyllon to Phylliss
The story of Phylliss
Phyllo, the thin pastry of baklava and spanakopita, takes its name from the Greek phyllon, 'leaf', because the sheets are as thin as leaves, and Phyllis comes from the same word. Phyllis Diller was a housewife and mother of five when she walked onto a San Francisco stage at thirty-seven, wild-haired, cackling and telling jokes about a husband she called Fang; she helped open stand-up comedy to women. Phylliss is one of the spellings American families used.
Meaning
A spelling of Phyllis, 'foliage'
Phyllis is from Greek phyllon, 'leaf'. Phylliss doubles the final s.
How the name formed
- phyllon
- Phyllis
- Phylliss
Related forms: Phyllis
Pronouncing Phylliss
FIL-is
Two syllables with the stress on the first.
Nicknames for Phylliss
Limited
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
- 1917
- Most girls named
- 195025 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1797reached in 1939
- Change vs 1966
- −25.0%6 in 1970, from 8
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.
Phylliss in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Phyllis in English — spelling variant
Phyllisss among us
people named Phylliss 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
Phylliss 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
- Sounds like Phyllis, a name everyone knows.
- A settled Greek meaning.
- Comes with Phyl as a ready short form.
- Almost everyone will write Phyllis.
- The double s may be read as a slip.
- It reads as a name of an older generation.
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Phylliss
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Phyllisss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Phylliss are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Phylliss in 2025?
- Phylliss is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Phylliss with classmates?
- Phylliss 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 Phylliss? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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