How popular is the baby name Philippa 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 Philippa.

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Popularity of the baby name Philippa


Posts that mention the name Philippa

Baby names from Pullman cars: Edith, Otis, Kenia, Jathniel

Pullman car

Years ago I posted about Livonia, a baby both born on and named after a Pullman car. Recently I wondered: What other Pullman car names would have made good baby names?

So I downloaded a big spreadsheet of over 12,000 Pullman car names from The Pullman Project and was slightly surprised to see that thousands of them could have been baby names, if we allow for the splitting of compound car names (like Fort Miley, Glen Norman, Meredith College, and West Willow).

Here are a handful of examples. On the left are relatively common/familiar names, and on the right are some unexpected choices.

Alana, Archer, ArnoldAdriatha, Arundel, Arvonia
Baxter, Becket, BradleyBantry, Bellonia, Besco
Calvin, Catalina, ClydeCadesia, Clarnie, Clymer
Dana, Deborah, DwightDarlow, Dathema, Dodona
Edith, Eileen, ElmoEdminster, Emalinda, Etherley
Finley, Flavia, FloydFithian, Flaxton, Florilla
Gary, Georgette, GraysonGavarnie, Gilia, Gloxinia
Harper, Harriet, HectorHarista, Humela, Hythe
Iona, Isabella, IvanIrvona, Isleta, Ixion
Jessica, Jordan, JuliaJacelia, Jathniel, Justitia
Kara, Keith, KennethKeinath, Kenia, Kittson
Laurel, Lewis, LindenLauveta, Leolyn, Lysander
Madison, Marco, MaudeMardonia, Mayence, Morganza
Nicola, Noel, NoraNarinda, Nasby, Norlina
Olivia, Omar, OtisOaklyn, Olanda, Oxus
Parker, Perry, PhilippaPenlyn, Pipila, Pixley
QuincyQuarren
Rebecca, Riley, RonaldRexis, Risley, Ruxton
Sarah, Scott, SusanneSalphrona, Sarver, Sibley
Thora, Tracy, TylerTascott, Tilden, Tisonia
Vanessa, Vernon, VictoriaVarick, Vinora, Vivita
Wesley, Wilson, WrenWelby, Wescott, Wexford

Which of the names above do you like best?

Image: Adapted from Pullman car exterior (public domain)

Phillippi, Phillippee, Philippy, Phillipie…

I was really intrigued by the female names Phillippi, Phillipie, Philippe, etc., that kept appearing in those early Boston records. I found 17 females with a name based on Philip, and 16 of those 17 were listed as “Phillippi” or something similar at least once. Here are all 17, plus every entry I found for each:

1. Phillipee White (née Wood), 3 entries:

  • married in 1653 (listed as “Phillip”)
  • gave birth in 1654 (listed as “Phillips”)
  • died in 1654 (listed as “Phillipee”)

2. Philipa Ockonell (née King), 1 entry:

  • married in 1662 (listed as “Philipa”)

3. Phillippee Cann, 2 entries:

  • gave birth to twin #1 in 1663 (listed as “Phillippee”)
  • gave birth to twin #2 in 1663 (listed as “Phillippee”)

4. Philippee Snell, 3 entries:

  • gave birth in 1659 (listed as “Philip”)
  • gave birth in 1661 (listed as “Phillip”)
  • gave birth in 1663 (listed as “Philippee”)

5. Phillippe Snell (daughter of #4), 1 entry:

  • died in 1663 (listed as “Phillippe”)

6. Philippe Cunnell, 2 entries:

  • gave birth in 1667 (listed as “Philippe”)
  • gave birth in 1670 (listed as “Philippe”)

7. Philippa Phillips (this is her married name believe it or not!), 8 entries:

  • gave birth in 1665 (listed as “Philippa”)
  • gave birth in 1667 (listed as “Philippa”)
  • gave birth in 1669 (listed as “Philippa”)
  • gave birth to twin #1 in 1671 (listed as “Phillippe”)
  • gave birth to twin #2 in 1671 (listed as “Phillippe”)
  • gave birth in 1672 (listed as “Philippa”)
  • gave birth in 1674 (listed as “Phillipa”)
  • died in 1679 (listed as “Philippy”)

8. Phillippi Samis, 1 entry:

  • died in 1689 (listed as “Phillippi”)

9. Phillippi Arnall, 3 entries:

  • gave birth in 1691 (listed as “Phillippi”)
  • gave birth in 1694 (listed as “Phillis”)
  • gave birth in 1695 (listed as “Phillis”)

10. Phillipie Carter (née White), 2 entries:

  • married in 1699 (listed as “Pilippe”)
  • gave birth in 1700 (listed as “Phillipie”)

11. Phillipi Lablond, 1 entry:

  • gave birth in 1704 (listed as “Phillipi”)

12. Philippi Greenwood, 1 entry:

  • gave birth in 1711 (listed as “Philippi”)

13. Phillippi Trench, 4 entries:

  • gave birth in 1716 (listed as “Phillipee”)
  • gave birth in 1719 (listed as “Phillippi”)
  • gave birth in 1720 (listed as “Phillippi”)
  • gave birth in 1724 (listed as “Philippe”)

14. Philippe Trench (daughter of #13), 1 entry:

  • born in 1724 (listed as “Philippe”)

15. Philippe Snelling, 2 entries:

  • gave birth in 1731 (listed as “Phillippe”)
  • gave birth in 1732 (listed as “Philippe”)

16. Philippe Snelling (daughter of #15), 1 entry:

  • born in 1731 (listed as “Philippe”)

17. Philippe Snelling (also daughter of #15), 1 entry:

  • born in 1732 (listed as “Philippe”)

Nowadays the preferred feminine form of Philip is Philippa, but Philippa clearly wasn’t being used very often in Boston during the 1600s and early 1700s. Here’s what A Dictionary of First Names has to say about Philippa:

In England during the Middle Ages the vernacular name Philip was borne by women as well as men, but female bearers were distinguished in Latin records by this form. It was not, however, used as a regular given name until the 19th century.

I’m left to conclude that, in Boston during this pre-Philippa era, the trendiest way to feminize Philip was by adding a ‘long E’ sound.

I wonder now if this ending was chosen intentionally to mirror the ‘long E’ endings of other female names with ancient Greek origins, like Phoebe and Chloe. Then again maybe it was simply the most natural way to feminize Philip, given that “-ie” and “-y” are such common diminutive suffixes in English.

Sources:

Names in the Tollemache-Tollemache family

British Army officer Leone Sextus Tollemache (1884-1917)
Leone Sextus Tollemache

The Rev. Ralph William Lyonel Tollemache-Tollemache (1826-1895), a clergyman in the Church of England, gave his fifteen children some bizarre (and bizarrely long) names.

Here are the names of the children he had with his first wife, Caroline:

  1. Lyonel Felix Carteret Eugene Tollemache (b. 1854)
  2. Florence Caroline Artemisia Hume Tollemache (b. 1855)
  3. Evelyne Clementina Wentworth Cornelia Maude Tollemache (b. 1856)
  4. Granville Grey Marchmont Manners Plantagenet Tollemache (b. 1858)
  5. Marchmont Murray Grasett Reginald Stanhope Plantagenet Tollemache (b. 1860)

And here are the names of the children he had with his second wife, Dora:

  1. Dora Viola Gertrude Irenez de Orellana Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1869)
  2. Mabel Ethel Helmingham Huntingtower Beatrice Blazonberrie Evangeline Vise de Lou de Orellana Plantagenet Saxon Toedmag Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1872)
  3. Lyonesse Matilda Dora Ida Agnes Ernestine Curson Paulet Wilbraham Joyce Eugénie Bentley Saxonia Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1874)
  4. Lyulph Ydwallo Odin Nestor Egbert Lyonel Toedmag Hugh Erchenwyne Saxon Esa Cromwell Orma Nevill Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1876)
    • His first fifteen initials spell “Lyonel the second.”
  5. Lyona Decima Veronica Esyth Undine Cyssa Hylda Rowena Viola Adele Thyra Ursula Ysabel Blanche Lelias Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1878)
  6. Leo Quintus Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1879)
  7. Lyonella Fredegunda Cuthberga Ethelswytha Ideth Ysabel Grace Monica de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1882)
  8. Leone Sextus Denys Oswolf Fraudatifilius Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1884)
    • He was his father’s sixth son, hence “Sextus.” “Fraudatifilius” comes from the Latin phrase fraudati filius, meaning “son of the defrauded one.”
  9. Lyonetta Edith Regina Valentine Myra Polwarth Avelina Philippa Violantha de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1887)
  10. Lyonulph Cospatrick Bruce Berkeley Jermyn Tullibardine Petersham de Orellana Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1892)

What are your thoughts on these names?

Sources:

Will the royal wedding popularize “Pippa”?

Were you one of the supposedly two billion people who tuned in to watch the royal wedding?

I wasn’t. But I did see some of the wedding photos. And I couldn’t help but notice the pretty girl behind Kate Middleton, helping out with that long train.

Who was she? Philippa “Pippa” Middleton, Kate’s little sister.

Pippa impressed many people, it seems. US Weekly dubbed her the “hottest bridesmaid ever.” The ladies on The View insinuated that she outshone her sister. Justin Bieber tweeted about her. And her bum currently has 27,471 fans on Facebook.

The name Pippa has always been rare in the United States. In 2009, only 21 baby girls were named Pippa. Do you think Pippa Middleton’s sudden fame in the U.S. will give the name a boost in 2011?

(Also, did you like Kate’s dress? How about Pippa’s?)

UPDATE: Here’s the answer! (For England and Wales, too!)