Phoebe: Meaning of Baby Name Phoebe

About the Name Phoebe

Phoebe descends from the Greek Phoibē meaning "bright" or "shining" — feminine form of Phoibos ("radiant"), an epithet of the sun god Apollo. The Greek Phoebe was a Titaness in Greek mythology, daughter of Uranus and Gaia, associated with the moon and prophetic wisdom (her grandson Apollo took over her oracular function at Delphi). The name carries layered classical-religious weight combining Olympian pedigree, lunar-and-celestial imagery, and prophetic register.

The name's New Testament anchor is Phoebe mentioned by the apostle Paul in Romans 16:1 — described as a "deacon of the church at Cenchreae" and one of the few specifically named female ministers in the early Christian church. The early Christian Phoebe gave the name dignified religious register that continued through European Christian-influenced naming.

The name was rare in mainstream American naming until the 20th century. The single most influential modern bearer is the fictional Phoebe Buffay of Friends (1994–2004) played by Lisa Kudrow — the iconic quirky-massage-therapist character whose presence anchored the name in 1990s and 2000s American cultural memory. The 2014 Phoebe Halliwell of Charmed (1998–2006, with the related Phoebe character) provided additional anchoring. Phoebe's contemporary American climb is part of the broader vintage-revival wave. The name climbed from outside the US top 500 in 2000 to the US top 200 girls' rank by 2014 and the top 100 by 2022. The name's appeal is its layered Greek-classical-Christian-pop-culture register combined with two soft syllables and the distinctive PH spelling. Common nicknames Phoebs, Bee (back-end shortening), and the rare Pho each carry distinct registers; international forms include Febe (Italian/Spanish/Portuguese), Phoebé (French), and the original Greek Phoibē.

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.

Quick Facts About Phoebe

1,029

Greek baby names in our dictionary

545

Greek female names

120

6-letter P-names in our dictionary

167

P-female names total

2000–2025

years of US SSA records (26 total)

27,642

total US births named Phoebe (all years)

US Popularity History (2000–2025)

🔥 Rising fast: Phoebe climbed 97 places in the US girls ranking over the last 5 years (#254 in 2020 → #157 in 2025).

Annual US births named Phoebe by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2025 with 1,885 girls named Phoebe (girl rank #157 that year).

Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.

Where in the US Is Phoebe Most Popular?

Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Phoebe the strongest states are Vermont, Alaska, Maine.

Strongest girls-name states

#	State	Avg rank	Births
1	Vermont	#46	48
2	Alaska	#82	45
3	Maine	#91	116
4	Rhode Island	#138	38
5	Utah	#153	269
6	New Hampshire	#157	76
7	Washington	#169	392
8	District of Columbia	#175	48
9	Montana	#185	39
10	Massachusetts	#188	311

Weakest girls-name states

#	State	Avg rank	Births
1	Louisiana	#449	122
2	Alabama	#436	104
3	Georgia	#431	271
4	Florida	#393	443
5	New Jersey	#392	216
6	Mississippi	#382	64
7	Nevada	#371	71
8	South Carolina	#367	127
9	Texas	#350	914
10	Oklahoma	#313	139

Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Phoebe in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.

Variant Forms

Name	Meaning	Gender	Origin
Phebe	"Variant Of Phoebe: Bright One, Shining, Pure."	Female	Greek

Looking for names like Phoebe?

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Compare Phoebe to Other Popular Names

Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Phoebe against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).

Phoebe vs Olivia 210,124 births since 2014

Phoebe vs Emma 202,477 births since 2014

Phoebe vs Sophia 169,709 births since 2014

Phoebe vs Isabella 158,431 births since 2014

Phoebe vs Ava 157,356 births since 2014

Phoebe vs Charlotte 151,872 births since 2014

Phoebe vs Mia 149,779 births since 2014

Phoebe vs Amelia 142,728 births since 2014

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