Girls' name · peaked in 1929
Phyllis name popularity since 1925
277,472 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Phyllis. Half of them were born in 1943 or earlier, so the typical Phyllis is about 83 years old in 2026. Phyllis peaked in 1929 as the #24 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 277,472
- Named Phyllis, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1929
- #24 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #12,873 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 276,682 girls · 790 boys
- Most popular in
- West Virginia
- 2.85× its national share
Peak year is the year Phyllis made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Phyllis births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1947. Measured as a share of all babies, Phyllis peaked in 1929.
- Steepest fall: Between 1965 and 1970, Phyllis's share of baby girls fell by 69%, from 1 in 716 to 1 in 2,280.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Phyllis's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Phyllis.
Decade by decade
Babies named Phyllis in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 36,751 | 97 | – |
| 1930s | 73,805 | 260 | #27 |
| 1940s | 76,143 | 240 | #40 |
| 1950s | 57,764 | 118 | #74 |
| 1960s | 25,704 | 68 | #155 |
| 1970s | 3,835 | 7 | #531 |
| 1980s | 1,430 | 0 | #1,124 |
| 1990s | 686 | 0 | #2,000 |
| 2000s | 295 | 0 | #4,464 |
| 2010s | 196 | 0 | #5,987 |
| 2020–25 | 73 | 0 | #12,873 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
48.3% of babies named Phyllis from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Phyllis is most popular
The index compares Phyllis'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 Phyllis.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 2.85× | 6,967 |
| Kentucky | 2.05× | 9,547 |
| South Dakota | 1.98× | 1,751 |
| North Dakota | 1.85× | 1,623 |
| Indiana | 1.84× | 12,065 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Phyllis and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Phyllis (this page) | 276,682 | 1929 |
| Phillis | 3,159 | 1949 |
| Phylis | 2,779 | 1937 |
| Phyliss | 2,096 | 1931 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Phyllis's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Phyllis.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Phyllis (1929).
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