How rare is the name Phyllis?

165,949 people in the United States have the first name Phyllis, about 1 in 1,820. It ranks #333 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

PHYLLIS

#333

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
165,949
About
1 in 1,820
This common or more
50.9%
Who bears it

Of the 165,949 people named Phyllis, 81.3% reported their origin as White, 14% as Black and 1.7% as two or more races. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Phyllis peaked in 1947, when 9,205 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1947
Births that year
9,205
In 2025*
7 ▼100%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 323,367 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Phyllis by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #51. The largest share of babies named Phyllis, 41.4%, were born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation's birth years.

1880s#990153
1890s#565633
1900s#3332,023
1910s#17017,924
1920s#7862,010
1930s#5174,065
1940s#7176,383
1950s#14557,882
1960s#27825,772
1970s#8973,842
1980s#1,7661,430
1990s#3,453686
2000s#7,688295
2010s#10,790196
2020s#14,28773
Before 19010.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–2720.4%
Silent Generation 1928–4541.4%
Baby boom 1946–6433.5%
Generation X 1965–803.7%
Millennials 1981–960.6%
Generation Z 1997–120.2%
2013 and later0.1%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Phyllis is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Phyllis has been most common in West Virginia (2.5×), South Dakota (2.3×), and Maine (2×), and least common in Nevada (0.12×).

317,224 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Phyllis

#331 Shane · 167,539#332 Allen · 166,924#334 Casey · 165,300#335 Gail · 165,125

Spelled almost the same

7 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Phyllis, most common first.

#5,929 Phillis · 2,783#6,291 Phylis · 2,563#8,213 Phyliss · 1,774#26,960 Philis · 342#33,489 Phylliss · 247#46,679 Phyillis · 142#49,815 Phillys · 123

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