Phillis vs Philomene
American parents have registered 3,683 Phillises since 1880, against 544 Philomenes. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Phillis Philomene
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 107 years in which either name was published, Phillis for 86 years and Philomene for 21 years. The lead changed hands 14 times.
- 1883–1908 Philomene ahead, apart from 4 short spells
- 1909–2000 Phillis ahead, apart from one short spell
8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Phillis | Philomene | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 3,683 | 544 |
| Most in one year | 118 | 22 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 2,000 | 40 |
| Median age today | 69 | 78 |
| Peak year | 1949 | 1915 |
| Best rank | 800th girls | 1,571st girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | unranked |
| First recorded | 1882 | 1882 |
| Girls / boys | 3,677 / 6 | 544 / 0 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Philomenes alive today are over 78; half the Phillises are over 69. That is 9 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Phillis and Philomene.