Philomena

Where Philomena comes from

From Latin Philomēna, from Ancient Greek Φιλουμένη (Philouménē, literally “beloved”). Name of an alleged early martyr whose remains were discovered in 1802 in Rome. Doublet of Philomene.
— Wiktionary's entry for Philomena
  • Ancient Greek
  • 4 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #547 among girls — 10 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1915
    Peak, #355
    284 babies named Philomena — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1930
    Philomena Lynott born
    Irish author
  4. 1932
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #565.
  5. 1996
    Philomena Bair born
    Austrian Freestyle Skier
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Ancient Greek.
Namesakes
  • Philomena Bair · Austrian Freestyle Skier, born 1996
  • Philomena Lynott · Irish author, 1930–2019
  • Philomena Lee · Irish nurse, born 1933
  • Philomena Essed · American professor, born 1955
  • Philomena Mensah · Canadian sprinter, born 1975

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.