Philip is a Greek name that means "lover of horses", from philos, friend, and hippos, horse; it belonged to Alexander the Great's father, the king of Macedon, and to one of the twelve apostles. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, kept it in the news for seven decades, and the single-l spelling is the older, more British form. Philip was number 255 in 2000 and has slipped gradually since, ranking number 528 in 2025.