Phylis
Phylis was last recorded in 1985, when 5 babies were given it; 3,342 Americans have been recorded with it between 1896 and 1985 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,500 Americans named Phylis and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (45% of everyone recorded); the median is 74 years old and half are between 67 and 81.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Phylis by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Phylis?
Unranked in 2025
Its last girls’ rank on record is #11,947, in 1985; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
109 babies in 1949, the peak
Phylis peaked in 1949, when 109 girls were given it, #848 among girls’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 5 | #11,947 | 2.9 |
| 1976 | 6 | #8,897 | 4.1 |
| 1975 | 11 | #5,408 | 7.5 |
| 1974 | 7 | #7,452 | 4.8 |
| 1973 | 7 | #7,211 | 4.8 |
| 1972 | 7 | #7,065 | 4.6 |
| 1971 | 11 | #5,033 | 6.6 |
| 1970 | 11 | #4,985 | 6.3 |
| 1969 | 14 | #3,921 | 8.3 |
| 1968 | 16 | #3,412 | 9.8 |
Every recorded year (73)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 26 | #2,417 | 15.7 |
| 1966 | 36 | #1,944 | 21.3 |
| 1965 | 41 | #1,792 | 23.2 |
| 1964 | 33 | #2,099 | 17.4 |
| 1963 | 35 | #2,004 | 18.2 |
| 1962 | 34 | #2,014 | 17.3 |
| 1961 | 52 | #1,574 | 25.8 |
| 1960 | 58 | #1,450 | 28.7 |
| 1959 | 43 | #1,687 | 21.3 |
| 1958 | 64 | #1,326 | 31.8 |
| 1957 | 71 | #1,250 | 34.7 |
| 1956 | 55 | #1,429 | 27.4 |
| 1955 | 64 | #1,269 | 32.7 |
| 1954 | 58 | #1,305 | 29.9 |
| 1953 | 70 | #1,162 | 37.2 |
| 1952 | 72 | #1,112 | 38.8 |
| 1951 | 65 | #1,166 | 36.1 |
| 1950 | 79 | #1,032 | 46.1 |
| 1949 | 109 | #848 | 63.7 |
| 1948 | 104 | #859 | 61.3 |
| 1947 | 99 | #889 | 55.8 |
| 1946 | 91 | #871 | 57.9 |
| 1945 | 67 | #936 | 51.3 |
| 1944 | 76 | #877 | 57.3 |
| 1943 | 97 | #791 | 69.5 |
| 1942 | 83 | #841 | 61.4 |
| 1941 | 62 | #939 | 51.3 |
| 1940 | 69 | #861 | 60.3 |
| 1939 | 75 | #795 | 68.4 |
| 1938 | 64 | #886 | 58.0 |
| 1937 | 74 | #802 | 69.5 |
| 1936 | 66 | #835 | 63.4 |
| 1935 | 45 | #1,038 | 42.9 |
| 1934 | 58 | #902 | 55.5 |
| 1933 | 56 | #912 | 55.6 |
| 1932 | 63 | #889 | 59.0 |
| 1931 | 50 | #991 | 47.0 |
| 1930 | 74 | #830 | 65.7 |
| 1929 | 51 | #1,026 | 45.7 |
| 1928 | 57 | #991 | 49.4 |
| 1927 | 49 | #1,095 | 41.1 |
| 1926 | 49 | #1,075 | 41.3 |
| 1925 | 40 | #1,249 | 32.9 |
| 1924 | 73 | #886 | 58.5 |
| 1923 | 58 | #987 | 48.1 |
| 1922 | 56 | #1,005 | 46.6 |
| 1921 | 33 | #1,433 | 26.8 |
| 1920 | 52 | #1,037 | 43.4 |
| 1919 | 50 | #1,025 | 44.2 |
| 1918 | 48 | #1,053 | 41.5 |
| 1917 | 34 | #1,255 | 31.4 |
| 1916 | 33 | #1,269 | 31.6 |
| 1915 | 35 | #1,165 | 35.6 |
| 1914 | 15 | #1,805 | 19.7 |
| 1913 | 15 | #1,586 | 24.0 |
| 1912 | 16 | #1,409 | 28.7 |
| 1911 | 9 | #1,766 | 21.5 |
| 1910 | 6 | #2,352 | 15.1 |
| 1909 | 8 | #1,730 | 23.0 |
| 1908 | 6 | #2,054 | 17.9 |
| 1903 | 5 | #2,016 | 19.1 |
| 1900 | 6 | #1,883 | 20.0 |
| 1896 | 5 | #1,764 | 21.0 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Phylis a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Phylis has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 73 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Phylis: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Phylis, and how old are they?
1,500 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 45% of the 3,342 Americans ever recorded as Phylis. The median Phylis alive today is 74 years old; half are between 67 and 81.
The 2020 Census counted 2,563 people named Phylis (2,551 women and girls, 12 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,848 born in the U.S. The Census count is 39% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 375 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 944 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 175 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 5 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Phylis born?
The states with the most babies named Phylis are New York, Ohio and Illinois, with 48% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 277 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 86 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Illinois | 70 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Texas | 63 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Michigan | 58 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Pennsylvania | 58 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| California | 57 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| New Jersey | 32 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Kentucky | 25 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Missouri | 24 | not ranked | 0.3× |
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Phylis with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
How common is the spelling Phylis?
Phylis is a less common spelling of Phyllis: SSA has recorded 3,342 Phylis and 323,367 Phyllis since 1880.
Of these 7 names spelled alike, given to 333,686 babies since 1880, Phylis is the third most given (1.0% of them).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Phylis
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1890-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Fayetta | 1,061 | |
| Earnestine | 16,134 | |
| Rayma | 1,046 | |
| Phyliss | 2,406 | |
| Wilhelmenia | 1,125 | |
| Caryl | 6,691 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Phylis and names like it
- Compare Phylis and PhyllisBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1940sPhylis peaked in 1949.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Phylis since 1910.
- The top names of 1949The year the most babies were named Phylis.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Phylis alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with PMost given first.