Girl · Ancient Greek
Phillis
Say it: FIL-is
Meaning
From Greek Phyllis, from phyllon 'leaf', the name of a girl in Greek myth turned into an almond tree.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Phillis Wheatley was named after the slave ship Phillis that brought her to Boston in 1761.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1940s
In the United States
- 3,683 babies given this name since 1882
- At its height in 1949, about 1 in 14,500 girls
- Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020
Through the ages
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
- The Age of Revolutions1750 to 1837
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Phyllis, Phillys
Famous bearers
- Phillis Wheatley, first African American woman to publish a book of poetry
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Colonial records of the Americas
- Well-known works of literature
- 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.