Phoebe

Where Phoebe comes from

Borrowed from Latin Phoebē, from Ancient Greek Φοίβη (Phoíbē), feminine form of Φοῖβος (Phoîbos, “bright”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Phoebe
  • Ancient Greek
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #215 among girls — 50 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1985
    Phoebe Waller-Bridge born
    English actress, screenwriter and producer
  3. 1989
    Phoebe Tonkin born
    Australian actress
  4. 2025
    Peak, #157
    1,885 babies named Phoebe — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2025
    The comeback
    Back to #157 after sinking to #1,489 in 1982.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Ancient Greek.
Namesakes
  • Phoebe Tonkin · Australian actress, born 1989
  • Phoebe Waller-Bridge · English actress, screenwriter and producer, born 1985
  • Phoebe Bridgers · American musician, born 1994
  • Phoebe Cates · American actress, model, and entrepreneur, born 1963
  • Phoebe Dynevor · British actress, born 1995

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.