Phi
Phi is the twenty-first letter of the Greek alphabet.
Meaning & Origin of Phi
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Phi is the twenty-first letter of the Greek alphabet.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
The Story of Phi
As a girl name
Phi first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a girl name in 1981, with 5 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1996: 8 births, good for #9,581 nationwide. About 58% of every Phi on record arrived during the 1980s, its defining decade. Phi last appeared in the published SSA data in 2009, with 5 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 45 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1980s to the 2020s.
As a boy name
Phi first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a boy name in 1976, with 5 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1992: 26 births, good for #2,670 nationwide. About 36% of every Phi on record arrived during the 1990s, its defining decade. Phi last appeared in the published SSA data in 2015, with 10 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 474 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1970s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Names that sound like Phi
Phonetically similar names — useful when Phi is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Phi
What does the name Phi mean?
How popular is Phi in 2026?
When was Phi most popular?
In which U.S. states is Phi most popular?
Is Phi a unisex name?
What names go well with Phi?
About the name Phi
Phi is a unisex baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1976 and has accumulated 474 births in the dataset. Phi's peak popularity came in 1992 when it ranked #2,670. Use the chart and map above to compare Phi's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1992 →
- Names of the 1990s →
- Names starting with "P" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
- Browse unisex names →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.