ALL Contacts - Great desktop, terrible mobile

Over the years we've accumulated over 1,000 entries in the desktop and mobile app what is now called 'Contacts'. (BTW, our 1st Apple product was the original Macintosh in 1984!) Most of these entries are there for their email addresses and mailing addresses. I would also say that most of them also have telephone numbers. This is great for our iMacs and landline. But when it comes to my wife's iPhone 11 and her cellular Apple Watch she doesn't want to have to look through ALL of the entries for a friend's or business' phone number. So I made her a 'Contacts' list titled "Wife's iPhone". That list only has the 50 or so entries she needs for her day to day calling needs. But when she goes to look up a number on those MOBILE devices she's faced with the monster called ALL Contacts. Is there a way to solve this type of problem?