Philip

Greek

"lover of horses"

Philip Origin and Meaning

The name Philip is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "lover of horses".

Philip, the name of one of the 12 apostles, is still favored by parents in search of a solid boys' classic that is less neutral than Robert or John and more distinctive than Daniel or Matthew and has many historic, royal ties.

Famous bearers include Saint Philip and King Philip the Great, who was the father of Alexander the Great, plus there have been numerous other French and Spanish rulers named Philip.

Thanks to the Duke of Edinburgh, though, Philip has a certain built-in reserve, somewhat straight and staid.

When it comes to nicknames, you're not limited to the midcentury Phil -- more lively ones include Pip and Flip.

The name can also be spelled Phillip; that spelling is consistently used almost exactly as much as this spelling, and in 2017 there were exactly as many baby Phillips as there were baby Philips.

Some other modern Philip namesakes are writer Roth, late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, architect Johnson, and composer Glass. Model Eva Herzigova named her baby Philip.

Philip comes via Latin from the Greek and was a Top 100 choice for a century, before fading in the late-1980s. In literature, Philip Pirrip is the full name of Pip from Great Expectations. Other Philips appear in the novels of Jane Austen, George Eliot, and William Thackeray -- not to mention Raymond Chandler's detective Philip Marlowe.

Philip Rank in US Top 1000

# 521 in the US

Philip Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 281 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Philip

• 521 US 2024
• 281 Nameberry 2025
• 457 Future 2028
• 442 England 2023

20 Names Similar to Philip

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Philip.

• Martin
• Peter
• Paul
• Edward
• Abraham
• Timothy
• Robert
• Richard
• Leonard
• Francis
• Gregory
• John
• Patrick
• Lawrence
• Frederick
• Joseph
• Raymond
• Douglas
• Lewis
• Louis

Famous People Named Philip

• Philip I III, Dukes of Burgundy
• Philip I and II Kings of Macedon
• Philip Biblical apostle
• Philip I V, Kings of Spain
• Philip I VI, Kings of France
• Philip III King of Navarre
• Philip Leopold Lewis Marie King of Belgium
• Philip of Swabia King of Germany
• Philip King of Sweden
• Philip aka Metacomet King of the Native American Wampanoag people
• Philip Mountbatten Prince of the UK; Duke of Edinburgh; husband of Queen Elizabeth II
• Philip Seymour Hoffman American actor
• Philip Morris Glass American composer
• Philip Michael Rivers American NFL football player
• Philip "Phil" Richard Erenberg American Olympic gymnast
• Philip Pullman English novelist
• Eugene Joseph "Philip" Carey American actor
• Philip Reeve English novelist
• Philip Kindred Dick American novelist
• Philip Milton Roth American novelist
• Philip Levine American Poet Laureate
• Philip Guston (born Phillip Goldstein) American painter
• Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson American basketball coach and team president
• Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins English musician
• Philip Hampson "Phil" Knight American co,founder of Nike
• Philip John "Phil" Keoghan New Zealand host of TV's "The Amazing Race"
• Philip "Phil" Michael Lester English radio host and internet personality known as AmazingPhil
• Philip "Phil" Jamieson lead singer of Australian band Grinspoon
• Philip George Zimbardo American psychologist
• Phillip Phillips American singer
• Philip Hamilton first son of Elizabeth and Alexander Hamilton
• Philip Marsiaj (b. 2011) son of Czech model and actress Eva Herzigová
• Philip Cairns (b. 1973) 13 year old Irish boy who went and still is currently missing either from Ballyroan or Rathfarnham in south Dublin in 1986

The name Philip in Pop Culture

• Philip "Pip" Pirrip character in Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations"
• Philip Herriton character in movie "Where Angels Fear to Tread"
• Philip "The Governor " character on TV's "The Walking Dead"
• Philip "Phil" Dunphy character on TV's "Modern Family"
• Prince Philip character in Disney's "Sleeping Beauty"
• Philip J. Fry main character in animated sitcom "Futurama"
• Prior Philip a main character in Ken Follett's "The Pillars of Earth"
• Philip Fletcher main character in G. A. Henty's "St. Bartholomew's Eve"
• Philip name chosen by both Angela and Pam for their sons on TV's "The Office"
• Philip Maylands main character in R. M. Ballantyne's "Post Haste"

International Variations of the name Philip

• Philipp German
• Philippe French
• Filib Scottish Gaelic
• Filippo Italian
• Philbin Scottish
• Pilbin Scottish
• Felipe Spanish
• Pilip Irish Gaelic
• Fülöp Hungarian
• Vilppu Finnish
• Felip Catalan
• Filip Czech