Meaning, origin and history of the name Phyllis

Gender Feminine

Scripts Φυλλίς(Ancient Greek)

Pronounced Pron. FIL-is(English)

Meaning & History

Means "foliage" in Greek. In Greek mythology this was the name of a woman who killed herself out of love for Demophon and was subsequently transformed into an almond tree. It began to be used as a given name in England in the 16th century, though it was often confused with Felicia.

Related Names

VariantsPhillis, Phyliss, Philis(English)

Popularity

Images

Phyllis and Demophon by John William Waterhouse (1907)

People think this name is

classic mature formal natural wholesome strong refined complex serious nerdy

Categories

Animal Crossing characters, currently out of the US top 1000, Desperate Housewives characters, Downton Abbey characters, ends in -is, flora, food, Frasier characters, Greek mythology, green, human Sesame Street characters, Keeping Up Appearances characters, literature, Mahoutsukai no Yome characters, mythology, nature, nuts, plants, Stranger Things characters, The Golden Girls characters, The Office US characters, top 10 in Canada, trees, TV show titles, Two and a Half Men characters, Virginia Woolf characters, Will and Grace characters, y vowels

Entry updated November 20, 2020