Phoebe
Meaning
bright, radiant, shining one
Say it: FEE-bee
The story
Phoebe is Greek for bright and radiant, a Titaness's name, an epithet of Artemis, a moon of Saturn, and a deaconess greeted by name in the letter to the Romans, which is more pedigree than most names carry in six letters. Its American record is a marvel of flatness: roughly 700 to 1,900 girls every single decade from the 1890s through the 1980s, ninety years without a fashion cycle. Then it tripled in the 1990s to about 3,300, the decade a scatterbrained and beloved Phoebe sang on the most-watched sitcom in America, and our standing hedge applies. It reached about 10,600 in the 2010s and stands at 8,900 so far this decade. In our records it is a girls' name at about 43,000 to five, this decade entirely. Names this old rarely feel this light; the brightness in the etymology does the lifting.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Phoebe peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
23 people · the #113,027 first name in Brazil · median age 18
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Phoebe
Most people given the name Phoebe in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Phoebe deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Phoebe truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Phoebe fits with your family’s names and surname.
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