Philomena

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Filomena in BR Brazil, AR Argentina, PE Peru and 14 more.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 10 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Philomena is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Chinese given name414 records spelled Philomena2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Malaysia

  Also written Philomela

• Polish given name195 records spelled Philomena14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, Czechia, United States, Italy

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Ukrainian

  Also written Filomena, Філомена, Филомена, Fìlomena, Filoména

• Hindi given name163 records spelled Philomena17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Nigeria, Malaysia

  Languages: Hindi, Bangla, Vietnamese

  Also written Philomina, Filomena, ফিলোমিনা

54 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Philomena is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Greek, ‘loved’. The supposed relics of a saint of this name were discovered in 1802. The name became popular in Ireland, but, when the Vatican suppressed the cultus, a sharp drop in the number of Irish girls given this name occurred.

  as a name·Irish first names

• From the name of an obscure saint (probably of the 3rd century) with a local cult in Italy. In 1527 the bones of a young woman were discovered under the church altar at San Severino near Ancona, together with a Latin inscription declaring them to be the body of St

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A female given name from Ancient Greek.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Portuguese, alternative spelling of Filomena

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, Christian saint

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 145 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Archduchess Maria Immakulata of Austriab. 1878ATnot in their usual nameAustrian archduchess (1878-1968)
• Bonnie Mealingb. 1912AUnot in their usual nameAustralian swimmer, Olympic silver medallist (1912–2002)
• Philomena Lynottb. 1930IEIrish author
• Philomena Leeb. 1933IEIrish nurse
• Clarissa Dickson Wrightb. 1947GBnot in their usual nameEnglish celebrity chef, television personality, businesswoman and formerly a barrister (1947-2014)
• Philomena Essedb. 1955NLAmerican professor
• Imelda Stauntonb. 1956GBnot in their usual nameBritish actress (born 1956)
• Clare Greyb. 1965GBnot in their usual nameBritish chemist and Professor of Chemistry
• Princess Philomena d'Orléansb. 1977FRFrench Royal
• Philomena Bairb. 1996ATAustrian Freestyle Skier

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 393 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Philomena?

We estimate roughly 33 thousand people bear Philomena (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does Philomena have the most bearers?

Philomena is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled filomena.

How common is Philomena compared with other names?

In Argentina, Philomena is the 563rd most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Philomena a male or female name?

Philomena is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Philomena mean?

Recorded meaning: Greek, ‘loved’. Supposed relics of a saint of this name were discovered in 1802; cultus later suppressed by the Vatican.