Daily AncestorPhil.
Phil. is an old abbreviation of the first name Philip, found in deeds, wills, church registers and census pages.
Phil. is a clerk's shortening of the given name Philip. Busy writers cut common first names down to a few letters, often raising the last letters above the line, and the habit runs through deeds, wills, tax lists and census pages.
Phil. is also the short form for the Book of Philippians, so a reference in a sermon note or gravestone verse is not a person. In a name column or deed it is Philip, also spelled Phillip.
As seen in a recordName column of the 1850 census
Phil. Ritter, 28, Tanner, Penn.
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Phil.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/phil. Last checked 2026-10-01.