Boys' name · peaked in 1947
Phil name popularity since 1925
17,852 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Phil. Half of them were born in 1953 or earlier, so the typical Phil is about 73 years old in 2026. Phil peaked in 1947 as the #261 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 17,852
- Named Phil, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #8,078 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% boys
- 53 girls · 17,799 boys
- Most popular in
- Oklahoma
- 2.84× its national share
Peak year is the year Phil made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Phil births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1959. Measured as a share of all babies, Phil peaked in 1947.
- Steepest fall: Between 1947 and 1952, Phil's share of baby boys fell by 63%, from 1 in 2,780 to 1 in 7,590.
- Fastest rise: Between 1954 and 1959, it became 2.7× more common, from 1 in 8,640 baby boys to 1 in 3,150.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Phil's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Phil.
Decade by decade
Babies named Phil in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 17 | 773 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 2,571 | #338 |
| 1940s | 15 | 4,575 | #303 |
| 1950s | 16 | 3,777 | #426 |
| 1960s | 5 | 4,053 | #412 |
| 1970s | 0 | 889 | #991 |
| 1980s | 0 | 457 | #2,002 |
| 1990s | 0 | 315 | #3,163 |
| 2000s | 0 | 198 | #3,791 |
| 2010s | 0 | 139 | #5,459 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 52 | #8,078 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
49.5% of babies named Phil from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Phil is most popular
The index compares Phil's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Phil.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | 2.84× | 538 |
| Kansas | 2.44× | 361 |
| Indiana | 2.19× | 752 |
| Tennessee | 1.68× | 513 |
| North Carolina | 1.61× | 665 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Phil's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Phil.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Phil (1947).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data