Phyllis or Phillis is a feminine given name of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

origin meaning ''

foliage A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, f ...

''. Phyllis is a minor figure in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

who killed herself in despair when

Demophon of Athens In Greek mythology, Demophon (Ancient Greek: Δημοφῶν or Δημοφόων), also spelled Demophoon, was a veteran of the Trojan War and king of Athens. The son of Theseus and Phaedra (mythology), Phaedra, Demophon was raised in exile by a ...

did not return to her and who was transformed into an

almond tree The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera by corrugations on the sh ...

by the gods. Phillida, Phyllicia, and

Phyllida Phyllida or Phillida is a feminine given name derived from the genitive case of the Greek ''Phyllidos'' and the Latin ''Phyllidis'', both meaning “foliage.” It is a variant form of Phyllis. Phillida * Phillida Bunkle (born 1944), New Zealand p ...

are all variants of the name.

Usage

The name has been in use since the 1600s when, often spelled Phillis, it was used by English poets John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester and

Matthew Prior Matthew Prior (21 July 1664 – 18 September 1721) was an English poet and diplomat. He is also known as a contributor to '' The Examiner''. Early life Prior was born in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, where he lived with his father George, a Non ...

. African-born American poet

Phillis Wheatley Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly ( – December 5, 1784), was an American writer who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Gates Jr., Henry Louis, ''Trials of Phillis Wheatley: ...

(1753–1784), who was captured and enslaved in the United States and was later freed, was named Phillis by her enslavers after the slave ship on which she arrived. Phillis was a popular name for women among the population of enslaved women in the United States. In the spelling Phyllis, the name was popularized in the late 1800s after it was used by bestselling popular Irish novelist Margaret Wolfe Hungerford for the heroine of her 1877 romantic novel
Phyllis, the Duchess
'. The name Phyllis was among the top 1,000 names for newborn girls in the United States in 1880 and increased in use in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The popularity of American actress

Phyllis Haver Phyllis Maude Haver (January 6, 1899 – November 19, 1960) was an American actress of the silent film era. Early life Haver was born in Douglass, Kansas to James Hiram Haver and Minnie Shanks Malone. When she was young, her family moved to L ...

(1899–1960), also raised the profile of the name. Phyllis was among the top 100 names for American girls by 1915 and peaked in popularity in 1929 as the 24th most popular name for American girls. It remained among the top 1,000 names for American girls until 1950 and then declined in use. The name was also at its most popular in the

Anglosphere The Anglosphere, also known as the Anglo-American world, is a Western-led sphere of influence among the Anglophone countries. The core group of this sphere of influence comprises five developed countries that maintain close social, cultura ...

, in countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, in the first part of the 20th century.

People

Phyllis Ackerman Phyllis Ackerman (1893–1977), was an American art historian, interior designer and author. She was a scholar of Persian art and architecture and she worked alongside her husband Arthur Upham Pope. Her legacy was as an editor of the six volume p ...

(1893–1977), American art historian, interior designer and author *

Phyllis Avery Phyllis Avery (November 14, 1922 – May 19, 2011) was an American actress. Early life Phyllis Avery was born to screenwriter Stephen Morehouse Avery and his wife Evelyn Martine Avery.

(1922–2011), American actress * Phyllis Barber (born 1943), American writer * Phyllis Bartholomew (1914–2002), English long jumper * Phyllis Drummond Bethune (née Sharpe, 1899–1982), New Zealand artist *

Phyllis Birkby Noel Phyllis Birkby (December 6, 1932 – April 13, 1994) was an American architect, feminist, filmmaker, teacher, and founder of the Women's School of Planning and Architecture. Early life and education Noel Phyllis Birkby was born in Nutle ...

(1932–1994), American architect *

Phyllis Bramson Phyllis Bramson (born 1941) is an American artist, based in Chicago and known for "richly ornamental, excessive and decadent" paintingsWainwright, Lisa. "Phyllis Bramson," ''Women's Caucus for Art Honor Awards 2014'', New York: ''Women's Caucus f ...

(born 1941), American artist *

Phyllis Brooks Phyllis Brooks (July 18, 1915 – August 1, 1995) was an American actress and model. She was born Phyllis Seiler in Boise, Idaho. Some sources have also inaccurately cited 1914 as her year of birth, but 1915 is the correct year according to So ...

(1915–1995), American actress and model *

Phyllis Calvert Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill (née Bickle; 18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002), known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1 ...

(1915–2002), British actress *

Phyllis Chesler Phyllis Chesler (born October 1, 1940) is an American writer, psychotherapist, and professor emerita of psychology and women's studies at the College of Staten Island (CUNY). She is a renowned second-wave feminist psychologist and the author of ...

(born 1940), American writer, psychotherapist, and professor * Phyllis M. Christian (born 1956), Ghanaian lawyer and consultant * Phyllis Cilento (1894–1987), Australian doctor and medical journalist *

Phyllis Clare Phyllis Clare (12 September 1905 – 1 November 1947) was a British stage and film actress. She appeared in both British and American films as well as revues in London's West End.Wearing p.255 & 293 She played the female lead in several British q ...

(1905–1947), British actress *

Phyllis Coates Phyllis Coates (born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell; January 15, 1927 – October 11, 2023) was an American actress with a career spanning over fifty years. She was best known for her portrayal of reporter Lois Lane in the 1951 film '' Superman and th ...

(born 1927), American actress * Phyllis Dare (1890–1975), English actress and singer *

Phyllis Worthy Dawkins Phyllis Worthy Dawkins (born 1953) is an American academic administrator who served as the 18th president of Bennett College from 2017 to 2019. She was previously the provost at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania where she also served as the acti ...

(born 1953), American academic administrator *

Phyllis Diller Phyllis Ada Diller (née Driver; July 17, 1917 – August 20, 2012) was an American stand-up comedian, Actor, actress, author, musician, and visual artist, best known for her Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric stage persona, Self-deprecation, se ...

(1917–2012), American actress/comedian *

Phyllis Dillon Phyllis Dillon (27 December 1944 – 15 April 2004)
, ''

(1944–2004), Jamaican rocksteady and reggae singer *

Phyllis Eisenstein Phyllis Eisenstein (February 26, 1946 – December 7, 2020) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy short stories as well as novels. Her work was nominated for both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award. Early life Eisenstein was born Phy ...

(1946–2020), American writer * Phyllis Gardner (born 1950), American physician and professor *

Phyllis George Phyllis Ann George (June 25, 1949 – May 14, 2020) was an American businesswoman, actress, and sportscaster. In 1975, George was hired as a reporter and co-host of the CBS Sports pre-show ''The NFL Today'', becoming one of the first women t ...

(1949–2020), American businesswoman, actress, and sportscaster *

Phyllis Gotlieb Phyllis Fay Gotlieb (née Bloom; May 25, 1926 July 14, 2009) was a Canadian science fiction novelist and poet. Biography Born of Jewish heritage in Toronto, Gotlieb graduated from the University of Toronto with degrees in literature in 1948 ...

(1926–2009), Canadian writer *

Phyllis Hyman Phyllis Linda Hyman (July 6, 1949 – June 30, 1995) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Hyman's music career spanned the late 1970s through the early 1990s, and she was best known for her expansive contralto range. Some of her most ...

(1949–1995), American jazz singer * Phylis Lee Isley, birth name of

Jennifer Jones Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), also known as Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress and mental-health advocate. Over the course of her career that spanned more than five decades, she was nomin ...

(1919–2009), American film actress * Phyllis Italiano (1936–2024), American politician and teacher *

P. D. James Phyllis Dorothy James White, Baroness James of Holland Park (3 August 1920 – 27 November 2014), known professionally as P. D. James, was an English novelist and life peer. Her rise to fame came with her series of detective novels featuri ...

(1920–2014), English crime fiction writer *

Phyllis Logan Phyllis Logan (born 11 January 1956) is a Scottish actress, widely known for her roles as Lady Jane Felsham in ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1993) and Mrs Hughes in ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015). She won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for ...

(born 1956), Scottish actress * Phyllis Love (1925–2011), American actress *

Phyllis Nagy Phyllis Nagy ( ; born November 7, 1962) is an American theatre and film director, screenwriter and playwright. In 2006, Nagy was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for writing and directing '' Mrs. Harris'' (2005), her screen debut. In 20 ...

(born 1962), American screenwriter/director * Phyllis Ndlovu (died 2022), Zimbabwean politician *

Phyllis Newman Phyllis Newman (March 19, 1933 – September 15, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She won the 1962 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Martha Vail in the musical '' Subways Are for Sleeping'' on Broadway ...

(1933–2019), American actress * Phyllis Nicol (1908–1999), British athlete *

Phyllis Pearsall Phyllis Isobella Pearsall Order of the British Empire, MBE (25 September 1906 – 28 August 1996) was a British painter and writer who founded the Geographers' A-Z Map Company, for which she is regarded as one of the most successful business ...

(1906–1996), British creator of the ''A to Z'' map of London * Phyllis Quek (born 1972), Malaysian-based Singaporean actress *

Phyllis Reeve Phyllis Reeve (born 1938) is a former librarian and marina operator, who has written local histories and serves as a literary critic in British Columbia, Canada. Born in Fiji, she moved to Montreal as a young child and completed her education at ...

(born 1938), librarian and marina operator, *

Phyllis Schlafly Phyllis Stewart Schlafly (; born Phyllis McAlpin Stewart; August 15, 1924 – September 5, 2016) was an American attorney, conservative activist, and anti-feminist, who was nationally prominent in conservatism. She held paleoconservative soc ...

(1924–2016), American writer and conservative activist *

Phyllis Smith Phyllis Smith (born August 15, 1949) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Phyllis Vance in the television series ''The Office'' and her voice role as Sadness in Pixar's animated franchise '' Inside Out''. Early life and educa ...

(born 1951), American actress *

Phyllis Somerville Phyllis Jeanne Somerville (December 12, 1943 – July 16, 2020) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She is best known for her roles in '' Little Children'' (2006), '' The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' (2008), '' Surviving Fami ...

(1943–2020), American actress * Phyllis Taloikwai, senior government official in the Solomon Islands *

Phyllis Thaxter Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter (November 20, 1919 – August 14, 2012) was an American actress. She is best known for portraying Ellen Lawson in '' Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (1944) and Martha "Ma" Kent in ''Superman'' (1978). She also appeared in ' ...

(1919–2012), American actress * Phyllis The Housewife, a female wrestler from

Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (also known by its initials as GLOW or G.L.O.W.) is a women's professional wrestling promotion that began in 1986 (the pilot was filmed in December 1985) and has continued in various forms after it left television. ...

* Phyllis Webstad (born 1967), Canadian author and activist *

(1753-1784), first African-American published poet. * Phyllis A. Whitney (1903–2008), American mystery writer

Mythological and legendary characters

* The title character of the

tale of Phyllis and Aristotle The tale of Phyllis and Aristotle is a medieval cautionary tale about the triumph of a seductive woman, Phyllis, over the greatest male intellect, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. It is one of several Power of Women stories from that ti ...

in medieval legend *

Phyllis (mythology) Phyllis (Ancient Greek: Φυλλίς, "leaves, foliage") is a character in Greek mythology, daughter of a Thrace, Thracian king (according to some, of Sithon (mythology), Sithon;Maurus Servius Honoratus, Servius on Virgil's Eclogue 5. 10 most oth ...

, wife of Demophon, king of Athens * Phyllis (river god) * Phyllis, consort of

Ereuthalion In Greek mythology, the name Ereuthalion (Ancient Greek: Ἐρευθαλίων) may refer to: *Ereuthalion, son of Criasus, founder and eponym of the city Ereuthalia. *Ereuthalion, an Arcadian who fought in the battle against the Pylians "beneat ...

* Phyllis, mother of the Trojan Alcaeus

Fictional characters

Phyllis Dietrichson Phyllis Dietrichson (Phyllis Nirdlinger in the book) is a fictional character in the book and two film adaptations of James M. Cain's novella ''Double Indemnity''. For the 1944 film of the same name, Barbara Stanwyck was nominated for the Aca ...

, in James Cain's novella ''

Double Indemnity ''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American film noir directed by Billy Wilder and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. Wilder and Raymond Chandler adapted the screenplay from James M. Cain's Double Indemnity (novel), novel of the same na ...

'' and two film adaptations *

Phyllis Lindstrom Phyllis Lindstrom is a fictional character portrayed by Cloris Leachman on ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and its spin-off series '' Phyllis''. ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' Phyllis Lindstrom (born in 1931 in San Francisco) is Mary Richards' sno ...

, on ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 ...

'' and '' Phyllis'', a 1970s TV spin-off, played by

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...

. * Phyllis Nefler, the protagonist of '' Troop Beverly Hills'' played by

Shelley Long Shelley Long (born August 23, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and comedian. For her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom ''Cheers'', Long received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. S ...

* Phyllis Painter, a supporting character in Alan Moore’s 2016 novel

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. *

Phyllis Pearce Phyllis Pearce is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Jill Summers. She made her first appearance as Phyllis during the episode broadcast on 20 September 1982. She is introduced into the series as ...

, a fictional character from the British soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'', played by

Jill Summers Jill Summers (born Honor Margaret Rozelle Santoi Fuller; 8 December 1910 – 11 January 1997) was an English music hall performer, actress and comedian. Her career in entertainment lasted eighty years and in 1982 she achieved stardom as Phy ...

. * Phyllis Potter, a fictional character in the 1990 film

Quick Change ''Quick Change'' is a 1990 American crime comedy film directed by Howard Franklin and Bill Murray (in their directorial debuts) and written by Franklin. Based on the novel of the same name by Jay Cronley, the film stars Murray, Geena Davis ...

played by

Geena Davis Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Davis made her acting debut in the satirical romantic comedy ''Toots ...

. * Phyllis Summers Newman, on ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

'' *

Phyllis Vance ''The Office'' is an American television series based on the British television comedy of the same name. The format of the series is a parody of the fly on the wall documentary technique that intersperses traditional situation comedy segments ...

(née Lapin), on ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'' played by

. * Phyllis (''Passions''), a minor character on ''

Passions ''Passions'' is an American television soap opera that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1999, to September 7, 2007, and on DirecTV's The 101 Network from September 17, 2007, to August 7, 2008. Created by screenwriter James E. Reilly and ...

Notes

{{given name Feminine given names Given names derived from plants or flowers Greek feminine given names