Which to use
“Philips” and “Phillips” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,995
- “Philips” frequency rank
- #6,820
- “Phillips” frequency rank
- 23815
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Philips | Phillips |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A surname transferred from the given name. | A surname originating as a patronymic derived from Philip. |
Letter map: Philips vs Phillips
Shared letters muted; letters that set Philips and Phillips apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.
Corpus notes: Philips and Phillips
Philips and Phillips are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23815, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Philips is recorded at frequency rank #16,995, classified as aname. Phillips is at rank #6,820, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈfɪlɪps/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 23815, this pair ranks #406,577 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Philips vs Phillips
Shared letters: hilps. Private to "Philips": -. Private to "Phillips": -.
"Philips" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC · "Phillips" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Philips" for "Phillips" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "Philips" or "Phillips" show up more?
What to do next
You've compared "Philips" and "Phillips". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "Philips" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Phillips" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,577 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Philips" and "Phillips" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Philippa vs Philips". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #406,577 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.