Girl · Greek
Philippa
Say it: FIL-ih-puh
Meaning
Feminine of Philip, from Greek philos 'loving' and hippos 'horse'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Used in medieval England, where clerks wrote it as Philippa while many women were called Philip.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 1,478 babies given this name since 1910
- At its height in 2017, about 1 in 23,600 girls
- 59 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Phillipa, Pippa, Phelippa
| Greek | Filippa |
|---|---|
| Italian | Filippa |
| French | Philippine |
| Spanish | Felipa |
Famous bearers
- Philippa of Hainault, queen of Edward III
- Philippa of Lancaster, queen of Portugal
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Royal and noble genealogies
- English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
- Medieval European charters and records
- 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.