Inside our phobia catalogue: a data & naming study

We get asked how our list of phobias is put together — how many there are, how we sort them, and why nearly every name ends in “-phobia.” So we analysed our own curated catalogue of 61 phobias and phobia-related fears. Every figure below is computed directly from our datasets, so it describes our collection, not the general population. We make no claim about how common any fear is in real life.

What we counted (and what we didn’t)

This is a study of the structure and language of the Phobiaq dictionary: how many entries it holds, how they split across our browse categories, how those categories line up with the established clinical subtypes, and the patterns in how the names are built. It is not a study of prevalence, frequency, causes, or treatment outcomes — we publish no “most common fear” rankings or statistics, because those require population data we do not collect.

1. How our catalogue splits across categories

Our 61 entries are sorted into 5 browse categories. Here is the exact breakdown, computed from the catalogue:

Shares are rounded to the nearest percent and describe our catalogue’s composition only.

2. How our categories map to the DSM-5 phobia subtypes

Clinical guidance groups specific phobias into a small set of subtypes, with social anxiety and agoraphobia treated as related anxiety disorders. Our catalogue spans all 5 specific-phobia subtypes plus those 2 related disorders — 7 groupings in total — each linked to the matching browse category:

Subtype groupings reflect established clinical terminology (DSM-5 specific-phobia subtypes); see our comparison of phobia types for the sourced detail.

3. The “-phobia” naming pattern

The word ending “-phobia” comes from the Greek phobos (“fear”), joined to a root that names what is feared — for example arachno- (spiders) or aero- (air/flying). In our catalogue, 60 of 61 display names follow this classic pattern. The remaining 1 entry is listed under its more familiar everyday name (Social Anxiety / Social Phobia) instead of a Greek compound.

The names also vary widely in length. The shortest in our catalogue is Apiphobia (9 letters); the longest is Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (36 letters) — fittingly, the fear of long words.

4. Spelling variants and synonyms

Many fears go by more than one Greek-rooted name. We record these as alternative names so the right page is found whatever spelling someone uses. Across the catalogue we track 34 alternative names attached to 24 of our 61 entries (37 have a single name). The breakdown:

The most heavily-synonymed entry is Aerophobia, which we track under 3 alternative names (aviophobia, aviatophobia, pteromerhanophobia).

How we did this

Every number on this page is generated at build time directly from the two datasets that power the site: our curated phobia dictionary and our phobia-type comparison data. Nothing here is estimated or hand-entered, so the study can never drift from the catalogue it describes. The only clinical statement we reuse — that cognitive behavioral therapy with exposure is the evidence-based first-line approach for specific phobias — is the same source-grounded framing used across the site (NIMH, NHS, APA). For more on our standards, see how we research.

Sources

• Phobiaq curated phobia dictionary and phobia-type comparison datasets (this site’s own data).
• NIMH — Phobias and Phobia-Related Disorders (subtype framing & treatability).
• NHS — Phobias and American Psychological Association — Anxiety (treatment framing).

Browse all phobias → · Compare phobia types →