Phipps
A surname that began as a shortened form of Philip, originally meaning “son of Philip.”
The #1,519 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,077 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Phipps is a reduced patronymic form of Philip, with the ending -s marking “son of.” The personal name Philip comes from Greek Philippos, meaning “lover of horses,” and passed into English through Latin and Old French. In this surname, the spelling was shortened over time from forms like Phipp and Phipson to Phipps.
History
Historical surname dictionaries treat Phipps as a variant of Phillips, Phipson, and related forms. It is found in English records by the early modern period and appears especially as a family-name form in England and later in North America. Some sources note related Welsh and Irish analogues, but the English surname is primarily understood as a patronymic from Philip.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 1912 surname dictionary explicitly glosses Phipps as “Phipp’s son.”
From the historical record
“PHIPPIN J suff. -«■«. PHIPPS, Phipp's (Son) \ ,, di,i«,, Ph!ii« PHIP(P)SON,Phipp'sSon j^- ^'^'PP' ^'^'''P- PHIZACKERLEY for Fa;5aokerley, q.v. PHCENIX (Gr.) Dweller at the sign of the Phoenix , \Lai. phmiix, Or. <j)dlri^ PHYSICK, a corrupt iorm of Fishwick (q.v.), through the intermediate form Fishick (found in a…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)