🔥Phoebe

FEE-bee

Greek

"radiant, shining one"

Phoebe Origin and Meaning

The name Phoebe is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "radiant, shining one".

Bubbly, bright, and versatile, Phoebe is a name with mythological, biblical, and literary ties. Used since the 17th century, it fell out of fashion in the US during the '60s, only to be revived after it appeared in the 90's TV favorite, Friends.

Since then, it's been on the rise and as of 2024, it sits in the US Top 200 and was given to around 1640 girls. Across the pond in the UK, it's a Top 50 choice, reaching #20 in England and Wales in 2023.

Phoebe is the Latin variation of the Greek name Phoibe, which derived from phoibos, meaning "bright." In classical mythology, Phoebe is the by-name of Artemis, goddess of the moon and of hunting. The masculine version of Phoebe is Phoebus.

In the New Testament, Phoebe is a church deaconess. Shakespeare used the name (spelled Phebe) for a rustic denizen of the forest in As You Like It, Phoebe Pynchon was a cheerful young girl in Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables, while Phoebe is Holden Caulfield's sympathetic, precocious ten-year-old sister in Catcher in the Rye.

Bill and Melinda Gates used Phoebe for their daughter.

Phoebe Rank in US Top 1000

# 183 in the US

Phoebe Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 18 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Phoebe

• 183 US 2024
• 18 Nameberry 2025
• 188 Canada 2023
• 61 Future 2035
• 20 England 2023
• 46 Scotland 2024
• 83 Ireland 2024
• 71 Australia 2024
• 54 New Zealand 2024
• 492 Germany 2016
• 49 Dogs 2023
• 25 Cats 2023

20 Names Similar to Phoebe

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Phoebe.

• Daphne
• Flora
• Felicity
• Delilah
• Rosalie
• Florence
• Beatrix
• Penelope
• Genevieve
• Esther
• Juliet
• Rosemary
• Sylvia
• Cecilia
• Evangeline
• Estelle
• Vera
• Josephine
• Magnolia
• Dahlia

Famous People Named Phoebe

• Phoebe Belle Cates American actress
• Phoebe Gilman Canadian,American children's author
• Phoebe Elizabeth Apperson Hearst mother of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst
• Phoebe Mills American Olympic athlete
• (Sarah) Phoebe Nicholls English actress
• Phoebe Philo British fashion designer
• Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub) American singer,songwriter
• Phoebe Ann Mosey birth name of Annie Oakley, American sharpshooter
• Phoebe Jane Elizabeth Tonkin Australian actress
• Phoebe Harriet Dynevor English actress; daughter of actress Sally Dynevor
• Phoebe Stone author, illustrator
• Phoebe Jennifer Tomlinson sister of singer Louis Tomlinson of One Direction
• Phoebe Dahl fashion designer and granddaughter of the writer Roald Dahl
• Phoebe Pearl daughter of American novelist Jennifer Weiner
• Phoebe McCurtain Lithgow (b. 1983) daughter of American actor John Lithgow
• Phoebe Gittins daughter of actor Paul Gittins and screenwriter Philippa Boyens
• Phoebe Pryce (b. 1990) daughter of actor Jonathan Pryce
• Phoebe Miu (b. 1991) daughter of actors Jaime Chik and Michael Miu
• Phoebe Joseph (b. 2001) daughter of actress Sherry Stringfield and Larry Joseph
• Phoebe Adele Gates (b. 2002) daughter of Microsoft's Bill and Melinda Gates
• Phoebe Margaret Cake (b. 2009) daughter of actors Julianne Nicholson and Jonathan Cake
• Phoebe Sylvia Rachel True Frost (b. 2011), daughter of actor Jim True,Frost
• Phoebe Herring (b. 2015) daughter of comedian Richard Herring

The name Phoebe in Pop Culture

• Phoebe Greek mythological titaness of the oracle of Delphi, mother of Leto and grandmother of Artemis and Apollo
• Phoebe Buffay character on TV series "Friends"
• Phoebe Tyler Wallingford character on soap "All My Children"
• Phoebe Halliwell character on TV series "Charmed"
• Phoebe Heyerdahl character on animated series "Hey Arnold!"
• Phoebe Terese character in the "Magic School Bus" series
• Phoebe Caulfield Holden's younger sister in "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
• Phoebe Lichten character in film "Phoebe in Wonderland"
• Phoebe Throssel character in film "Quality Street"
• Phoebe Winterbottom character in "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech
• Phoebe Thunderman character on TV series "The Thundermans"
• Phoebe Kendall main character in "Generation Dead" by Daniel Waters
• Phoebe Grizelda Howell main character in "Phoebe and Her Unicorn" by Dana Simpson
• Phoebe D'Ysquith character in musical, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"
• Phoebe Forrester character on soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful", Steffy Forrester's twin sister
• Phoebe Grey Christian and Ana's daughter in the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy
• Capt. Phoebe Callisto Spaceship captain & mother in the Disney Jr cartoon series "Miles from Tomorrowland"
• Phoebe character in "Toad Patrol"
• Phoebe Hawthorne character in Mother,Daughter Book Club series by Heather Vogel Frederick
• Phoebe Moon of Saturn

International Variations of the name Phoebe

• Pheobe Greek
• Phebe Italian