Phillips is an occupational surname derived from Middle English 'Philipp', meaning 'lover of horses'. It was originally given to a groom or horseman, or someone who worked with horses in some capacity. The name has been present in Britain since the 13th century and was brought to America by early settlers. Today, Phillips is ranked among the most common surnames worldwide.
Here are some observations about the name Phillips based on these statistics:
- The highest number of births with the name Phillips was in 1949 with 32 births.
- There were multiple periods where the name's popularity declined significantly:
- From 1904 to 1909, there were only 5 births each year until it increased to 8 births in 1909.
- Between 1967 and 1973, the number of births dropped from 12 to as low as 6 per year.
- There was a notable resurgence in popularity around the late 1940s to early 1950s with peaks between 1948 (17 births) and 1950 (19 births).
- After the peak in 1949, the number of Phillips births gradually declined over time.
- Since 2000, there have been fewer than 10 births each year except for 2018 and 2019 where it peaked at 7 and 8 respectively.