The name—which is a contraction of Greek philippos for 'lover of horses'—was a very common name in NT times, a fact attested to by the number of cities named after one Phillip or another in the Roman empire. Among the more famous (or infamous) ones, as far as backgrounds to the Bible is concerned, are Philip of Macedonia II (father of Alexander the Great) and the ruthless Phyrgian governor of Jerusalem appointed by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 169 BC.
4 persons of this name are mentioned in the NT:
2) Herod Philip, the son of Herod the Great by Mariamme II, and first husband of Herodias who divorced him to marry Herod Antipas,
3) Philip the Tetrarch, son of Herod the Great by Cleopatra of Jerusalem and ruler of Iturea and Traconitis,
4) Philip, one of the seven men chosen by the apostles to oversee the daily distribution of food in the early church (Acts 6:1-5), also called 'the evangelist' in Acts 21:8.
©ALBERITH