Philip
A surname from the given name Philip, ultimately meaning “horse-lover” in Greek.
The #5,910 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 52,940 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Philip began as a personal name, from Greek Philippos, meaning “horse-lover” or “fond of horses,” from philos “loving” and hippos “horse.” It passed into Latin and then into medieval European use, where it became a common baptismal name in Christian tradition. As a surname, Philip usually means “son of Philip” or comes directly from someone identified by that given name.
History
The name was established in England after the Norman Conquest and later generated a large family of related surnames, including Phillips, Philipson, Philp, Phelps, Phipps, and others. In older surname collections, it is treated chiefly as a baptismal or patronymic surname rather than a nickname or occupational name. The form Philip itself is less common as a surname than some of its derivatives, but it has remained in use.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old surname dictionaries note that Philip spawned an unusually large cluster of related surnames, showing how one popular baptismal name could branch into many different family names.
From the historical record
“PHILIBERT, V. Phiibert. PHILIP \ (A,-Lat.-Gr.) Horse-Lover [Lat. PH I LI PP I Philippus, Gr. *£X«r5ros— *a-os, Ipv- PHILLIP I ing ; iiTTTos, a horse] PHILLIPP^ } Philip's (Son)”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)