MEANING & HISTORY
What does Philip mean?
Philip comes from Greek Philippos through Latin and European biblical usage. The compound joins a love or fondness element with hippos, horse.
It was borne by Macedonian kings and figures in the New Testament. Philip, Felipe and Philippe preserve different language forms of the same name. The horse association is the literal linguistic construction, not a claim about a bearer’s interests.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
English
- /ˈfɪlɪp/General-American · Received-Pronunciation
- /ˈfɪləp/Australia
Phil · ip2 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
From Middle English Philip, ultimately from Ancient Greek Φίλιππος (Phílippos), name of ancient kings of Macedonia, from φίλιππος (phílippos, “fond of horses”), from φιλέω (philéō, “to love”) + ἵππος (híppos, “horse”).
A male given name from Ancient Greek.
Wiktionary: Philip (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Philip
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Philip Joper Escueta
badminton player
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Philip Tan
Comic artist
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
11
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
12
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Philip Joper Escueta, Philip Tan
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Philip in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Philip
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Phillip♂Variant of Philip; fond of horses
- Phil♂Short form of Philip and other Phil-names
- Philippe♂Friend of horses
- Phoebe♀Bright or radiant
What rhymes with Philip?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Names with a similar written ending
Spelling suggestions; these are not verified phonetic rhymes.
Recorded combinations with Philip
3 source-reported compound forms include this name as a component. Each part keeps its own history.
Names in this collection
- Leo Philip·Leo: lion; Philip: friend of horses
- Philip John·Philip: Greek Philippos, friend of horses; John: Hebrew Yohanan through Greek and Latin, Yahweh is gracious
- Rene Philip·Rene: English René or Renée form in the Latin born-again family; Philip: Greek Philippos, friend of horses
Explore Philip further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q827311 — Philip (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Philip Joper Escueta (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q827311 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Philip Tan (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q827311 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Philip (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Philip (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.