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Boy · Ancient Greek
Philemon
Say it: fy-LEE-mun
Meaning
Greek, from philēma 'kiss' or philos 'loving, affectionate'.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
Used occasionally by Puritans and in French families.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 873 babies given this name since 1916
- At its height in 2017, about 1 in 76,900 boys
- 12 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Biblical WorldAbout 1200 BC to AD 100
- Ancient Greece800 BC to 146 BC
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
Used by
The family of the name
| French | Philémon |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Filemón |
| Italian | Filemone |
| Polish | Filemon |
| Greek | Filimon |
Famous bearers
- Philemon, recipient of Paul's letter
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
- Ancient Greek literature and history (Homer, Herodotus, Plutarch and others)
- Puritan church and town records of England and New England
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.