How popular is the baby name Sypha 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 Sypha.

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Popularity of the baby name Sypha


Posts that mention the name Sypha

Baby names with PH: Phoenix, Ophelia, Joseph

pheasant

Looking for baby names that feature the appealing letter-pair PH?

I’ve collected hundreds of options for you in this post!

Before we get to the names, though, let’s get one big question out of the way…

Why does PH sound like “F”?

In English, PH is a digraph, which means that it’s a pair of letters that make a single sound. (It’s interesting that the word “digraph” contains a digraph, isn’t it?)

Most of the English words that have PH were derived from Greek — specifically, from Greek words that included the Greek letter phi:

Greek letter phi (uppercase)
Phi (uppercase)

In ancient times, the Greek letter phi made an aspirated p-sound. (The unaspirated p-sound, on the other hand, was made by the Greek letter pi.)

When Greek was transliterated into Latin, the letter phi was written as “ph” to denote this aspiration — that is, to signal that the letter “p” was accompanied by a brief puff of air.

So, what happened?

In the first several centuries A.D., the pronunciation of the Greek letter phi changed. It slowly evolved from an aspirated p-sound into an f-sound.

As a result, the letter-pair “ph” underwent a corresponding (though somewhat illogical) pronunciation change. It, too, came to represent an f-sound — and still does to this day.

Now, on to the names!

Names with PH

Below you’ll find a long list of names that contain the letter-pair PH. Many of these names come directly from the U.S. SSA’s baby name data. Others are ancient names that aren’t used much (if at all) in modern times.

  • Aleph
  • Alpha
  • Alphaeus
  • Alpharetta
  • Alphie
  • Alphonsa
  • Alphonse
  • Alphonsine
  • Alphonso
  • Alphonsus
  • Amphion
  • Amphirho
  • Amphithea
  • Aphaea
  • Aphra
    • Seventeenth-century writer Aphra Behn was one of the first English women to earn her living by writing.
  • Aphrodite
  • Apphia
  • Asaph
  • Caliph
  • Cephas, Cephus
  • Christoph, Christophe
  • Christopher, Kristopher
  • Christophine
  • Cleopha
  • Cléophée
  • Cleophas, Cleophus
  • Cypher
  • Daphna
  • Daphne, Daphnie, Daphney, Daphni, Daphnee
  • Delpha
  • Delphi
  • Delphia
  • Delphin
  • Delphina
  • Delphine
  • Delphinus
  • Demophon
  • Dolph
  • Dolphus
  • Dymphna
  • Elaphia
  • Eliphalet, Eliphelet
  • Eliphas, Eliphaz
  • Elpha
  • Ephesius
  • Ephraim
  • Ephram
  • Ephratah
  • Ephrem
  • Epiphanius
  • Epiphany
  • Eugraphia
  • Eugraphius
  • Euphemia
  • Euphemius
  • Euphoria
  • Euphranor
  • Euphrasia
  • Euphrasie
  • Euphrasius
  • Glaphyra
  • Gryphon
  • Hephaestus
  • Hephzibah
  • Humphrey
  • Ildephonse
  • Iphigenia
  • Iphis
  • Japheth, Japhet, Yaphet
  • Jehoshaphat
  • Jephthah ,Jephtha
  • Josaphat
  • Joseph, Ioseph
  • Josepha
  • Josephina
  • Josephine
  • Josephus
  • Memphis
  • Morpheus
  • Murphy, Murphie, Murphee, Murphey
  • Mustapha, Moustapha
  • Naphtali, Nephtali
  • Nephele
  • Nephi
  • Nephthys
  • Nicéphore
  • Onuphrius
  • Ophelia
  • Ophélie
  • Ophir
  • Ophira
  • Ophrah
  • Orpha
  • Orpheus
  • Orphia
  • Pamphilus
  • Persephone, Persephonie, Persephony
  • Phaedra
  • Phaedrus
  • Phaenna
  • Phanuel
  • Pharaildis
  • Pharamond
  • Pharaoh
  • Pharez
  • Pharrell
  • Phelan
  • Phelim
  • Philbert, Philibert
  • Phileas
  • Philemon
  • Philetus
  • Philia
  • Philinda
  • Philina, Philena
  • Philine, Philene
  • Philip, Phillip, Philipp
  • Philippa, Phillipa
  • Philippe
  • Philo
  • Philomel
  • Philomela
  • Philomena
  • Philon
  • Philopateer, Philopater
  • Philotera
  • Phineas, Phinehas
  • Phoebe, Phebe
  • Phoenicia
  • Phoenix
  • Photina
  • Photine
  • Photius
  • Phronsie
  • Phryne
  • Phylicia
  • Phyllida
  • Phyllis, Phillis
  • Porphyrius
  • Prophet
  • Ralph
  • Ralphie
  • Ralphine
  • Randolph
  • Rapha
  • Raphael
  • Raphaela
  • Raphaëlle
  • Rodolph
  • Rolph
  • Rudolph
  • Saphina
  • Saphira, Sapphira, Saphyra
  • Sapphire
  • Sephira
  • Sephiroth
  • Sephora
  • Seraph
  • Seraphia
  • Seraphim
  • Seraphin
  • Seraphina, Saraphina
  • Seraphine
  • Shiphrah
  • Sophia, Sophya
  • Sophie, Sophi, Sophee
  • Sophilia
  • Sophina
  • Sophonie
  • Sophonisba
  • Sophron
  • Sophronia
  • Sophronius
  • Sophus
  • Stephania
  • Stephanie, Stephany, Stephani
  • Sylphrena
  • Sypha
  • Symphony
  • Télesphore
  • Theophanes
  • Theophania
  • Theophila
  • Theophilia
  • Theophilus
  • Triumph
  • Tryphena
  • Tryphon
  • Tryphosa
  • Xenophon
  • Zelpha
  • Zephan
  • Zephaniah
  • Zephyr
  • Zephyra
  • Zephyria
  • Zéphyrine
  • Zephyrus
  • Zilpha
  • Zilphia

Which of the PH names above to do you like most? Let me know in the comments!

Sources: Phee-phi-pho-phum – The Grammarphobia Blog, SSA

Image: Adapted from Fasan3 by Ragnhild & Neil Crawford under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Girl names that debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 2021

lotus bud

Which girl names emerged in the U.S. baby name data in 2021 for the first time ever?

A total of 603 girl names debuted in the data last year, and the most impressive debut was made by Namaari. Here are the other top debuts:

  1. Namaari, 43 baby girls
  2. Parklynn, 36
  3. Sayori, 35
  4. Arianelly, 26
  5. Sanem, 23
  6. Nezuko, 20
  7. Adrielly, 17
  8. Imaray, 17
  9. Franyeli, 15
  10. Kaiori, 15
  11. Kaliani, 15
  12. Treu, 15
  13. Xylo, 15

Namaari was a character in the animated Disney movie Raya and the Last Dragon (2021). (The name Raya also saw a rise in usage last year.)

I’m not sure yet what was influencing Treu, but it was also one of last year’s fast-rising boy names.

Here are some more debuts:

13 baby girlsArzoey, Daneliya, Zyn
12 baby girlsEmrielle, Hiraya, Namani, Pruitt, Rivia
11 baby girlsDaneiris, Emris, Ixia, Knoxleigh, Kyori, Novamarie, Oyku, Zunaisha
10 baby girlsDini, Harir, Jehiely, Keilanni, Kolly, Kuvira, Meiomi, Nylynn, Renfri, Rinn
9 baby girlsArlenny, Azley, Celaena, Elysani, Emmaluna, Europe, Giannagrace, Giorgiana, Khazi, Lailonni, Livvi, Miyanni, Shreyanvi, Solaire, Xori, Xureila, Yoadan
8 baby girlsCallum, Eclipsa, Ellowen, Emoriee, Este, Hartford, Himawari, Hiraeth, Invy, Isani, Jaior, Kasper, Khemistry, Kyloni, Lupine, Nabi, Nareth, Oak, Rhue, Romyn, Saivi, Savae, Siylah, Solaia, Suleidy, Summerreign, Willowgrace, Wrenlie, Xilenia, Yeilany, Zaiyana, Zaloni

Renfri is a character from the Netflix series The Witcher. And Este may have been inspired by the Taylor Swift song “No Body, No Crime,” which features a character named Este (named after musician Este Haim).

Finally, here’s a selection of the rest of the debuts:

  • 7 baby girls: Alileth, Aristella, Dandelion, Dutton, Eluney, Elvana, Everlynne, Joseane, Kiyomii, Mazeleigh, Neon, Parklyn, Sevgi, Styles, Swae, Virsavia, Yemariyam, Yimo
  • 6 baby girls: Arka, Avaluna, Azuria, Bruchie, Cleobella, Culture, Darlet, Ettalie, Glacier, Ice, Jerusalema, Jynx, Kauai, Mawata, Melkam, Nelliana, Onyxia, Quimby, Rayzel, Rischel, Sevy, Tatev, Thendral, Yemi, Zamoura, Zaza
  • 5 baby girls: Aonani, Azami, Bellezza, Callidora, Camoura, Cleissy, Dvosia, Ekhlas, Falasteen, Hiyabel, Icylinn, Iveel, Jonesy, Kiswa, Kohinoor, Leiko, Lisaira, Maeverly, Maravilla, Nolvia, Nymira, Ozzlynn, Praisely, Rimna, Rissy, Savia, Sibi, Solaria, Sylphrena, Sypha, Sunisa, Thyrie, Vignette, Woodlyn, Yule, Zae, Zuna

Sevgi is Turkish for “love,” Maravilla is Spanish for “wonderful,” and Sylphrena (like Kaladin) is a character from the Stormlight Archive series of epic fantasy books by Brandon Sanderson.

If you can explain any of the other debuts, please leave a comment!

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from LotusBud0048a (public domain) by Frank “Fg2” Gualtieri