Phillips


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Phillips is patronymical, from the personal name Philip (from the Greek Philipos, a lover of horses).  This name was popular probably because there were a number of early saints named Philip. 

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Wales.   Philip arrived as a personal name in Wales in the 14th century, initially as Phelip. 

It was adopted as a surname by Sir Thomas Philipps who came to power and influence in Pembrokeshire in the early 1500's under Henry VII.  Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the Philipps - from their base at Picton castle - were the most powerful family in Pembrokeshire, exercising tremendous political, social and economic influence over all aspects of local life.  They adopted the Phillips spelling in the 18th century and other families followed.  The Phillips families of Cwmgwili in Carmarthenshire and of Treygbi in Cardiganshire are believed to be related.

The Phillips family of Trelewelyn in Pembrokeshire took the Phillips name in the early 1600's.  Thomas Phillips of this family was Sheriff of Pembrokeshire in 1667.   Peregrine Phillips, a Puritan preacher, was known as "the apostle of Pembrokeshire" in the mid 1600's.

England and Scotland
.  Phillips in England was to be found in the west country, in Cornwall (where it dates from the late 1500's), and in London.  The name may also be related to the surnames Phelps and Phipps. Phillips travelled to Scotland also, initially as Philp.  It has been most evident there in Fife.

Elsewhere.  The name is not only English, but also Dutch, north German, and Jewish. 

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Sir Thomas Philipps was the forebear of the powerful Philipps family which held Picton castle in Pemrokeshire from the early 16th century.
Anton and Gerard Philips co-founded the Dutch electronics company Philips in 1891.
Henry Phillips founded the American Screw Company and was the man after whom the Phillips screwdriver is named.
William Phillips was the English economist after whom the term Phillips curve is named.
Frank Phillips, the oilman, founded the Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in the 1920's.

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  • 122,000 in the UK (most numerous in Essex)
  • 112,000 in America (most numerous in Texas)
  • 77,000 elsewhere (most numerous in Canada)

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For other surnames check the companion selectsurname.com site where there are to be found the history and genealogy for more than 500 surnames.

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