How popular is the baby name Philip in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Philip.

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Popularity of the baby name Philip


Posts that mention the name Philip

Baby name story: Daehlie

Bjørn Dæhlie greeting Philip Boit at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Bjørn Dæhlie greeting Philip Boit

Norwegian cross-country skier Bjørn Dæhlie (pronounced DAHL-ee) placed first in the men’s 10km classic at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

He held off going to the medal ceremony, though, until Kenyan skier Philip Boit — a former middle-distance runner who, after switching sports, became the very first Kenyan to compete at the Winter Games — crossed the finish line in last place, twenty minutes later.

Philip Boit welcomed his first child, a baby boy, just weeks after the Olympics. The baby’s name? Daehlie, after Bjørn Dæhlie. As Boit explained,

All my friends and family said he had to be a very good-hearted man because he waited for me in Nagano, and that I should keep his name in my family.

Philip Boit went on to have three more children: Olympia, Faith, and Alex.

P.S. Philip Boit’s uncle, middle-distance runner Mike Boit, competed alongside Kipchoge Keino at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of the 1998 Winter Olympics

Where did the baby name Kessel come from in 2017?

Hockey player Phil Kessel
Phil Kessel

The rare name Kessel was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 2017:

  • 2019: unlisted
  • 2018: unlisted
  • 2017: 5 baby boys named Kessel [debut]
  • 2016: unlisted
  • 2015: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Professional hockey player Philip “Phil” Kessel.

During the second half of the 2010s, Kessel played with the Pittsburgh Penguins (alongside teammate Sidney Crosby). The team won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons: 2016 and 2017.

The name Kessel does not appear anywhere in the SSA’s state-by-state data, meaning that Pennsylvania was not the birthplace of all five of the baby boys named Kessel (curiously). We do know that at least one of the winger’s namesakes was born inside the Keystone State, though — to Pittsburgh parents Nicole and Adam Hillman. Their baby boy, Kessel Ryan Hillman, arrived in May of 2017 (during the Eastern Conference Finals).

The German surname Kessel is derived from a Middle High German word meaning “kettle, cauldron.” It originally referred to a person who made copper cooking vessels.

What are your thoughts on Kessel as a first name?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Phil Kessel 2017-06-08 by Michael Miller under CC BY-SA 4.0.

What brought the baby name Aloma back in the early 1940s?

Movie poster for "Aloma of the South Seas" (1941)
“Aloma of the South Seas” poster

In 1941, the name Aloma re-emerged in the U.S. baby name data after a brief absence. It went on to achieve peak usage the very next year:

  • 1944: 40 baby girls named Aloma
  • 1943: 103 baby girls named Aloma [rank: 762nd]
  • 1942: 147 baby girls named Aloma [rank: 616th]
  • 1941: 47 baby girls named Aloma
  • 1940: unlisted
  • 1939: unlisted

It also managed to reach the girls’ top 1,000 twice.

What was drawing attention to the name Aloma around that time?

The movie Aloma of the South Seas, which was released in August of 1941.

The main character was Tanoa (played by Jon Hall), a young man from a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean. After spending many years abroad, Tanoa returned home upon the death of his father, the chief. Soon after, Tanoa fell in love with a fellow islander named Aloma (Dorothy Lamour). But Tanoa also had a villainous cousin named Revo (Philip Reed), who coveted both the lady and the throne…

Plot-wise, the movie didn’t have much in common with the 1926 silent film of the same name, which featured dancer Gilda Gray as Aloma. The original film was based on the Broadway play Aloma of the South Seas (1925) by LeRoy Clemens and John B. Hymer.

The 1941 version did, however, end with a spectacular volcanic eruption. It also earned a pair of Academy Award nominations (for cinematography and special effects). Oh, and one of the screenwriters happened to be former actress Seena Owen.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Aloma?

Sources: Aloma of the South Seas (1941 film) – Wikipedia, Aloma of the South Seas (1941) – TCM, SSA

Image: Movie poster for Aloma of the South Seas

Baby name story: Rex and Hillary

New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary (1919-2008)
Edmund Hillary

On June 2, 1953, twin boys were born to Mr. and Mrs. N. Stephens of Auckland, New Zealand.

In the headlines that day were two major events:

  1. The coronation of Elizabeth II as queen of the United Kingdom. Her coronation service, the first to be televised, took place mid-day at Westminster Abbey.
  2. The announcement that a pair of mountaineers, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal, had reached the summit of Mt. Everest on May 29.

The commemorate these two events, the baby boys were named Rex and Hillary.

(When the twins themselves were in the papers several days later, it was noted that the Stephens family might give Rex the additional name Philip, in honor of Prince Philip.)

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay by Jamling Tenzing Norgay under CC BY-SA 3.0.