Phylis vs Phyliss

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Phylis Phyliss

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 77 years in which either name was published, Phylis for 62 years and Phyliss for 15 years. The lead changed hands 20 times.

• 1896–1958 Phylis ahead, apart from 4 short spells
• 1961–1963 Phyliss ahead
• 1964–1976 Phylis ahead, apart from one short spell
• 1977–1983 Phyliss ahead

12 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.

Side by side

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 Phylises alive today are over 74; half the Phylisses are over 72. That is 2 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

• Phylis New York (4.0×), Ohio (2.0×), Michigan (1.7×)
• Phyliss New York (4.1×), Illinois (2.8×), Ohio (2.5×)

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

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