Pheba
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "bright, shining".
Name Census estimates that about 2 living Americans carry the first name Pheba. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pheba today is around 114 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pheba births was 1920 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pheba. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Pheba is about 114 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Phebas were born before 1922.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Pheba. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
2
~ 1 in 171,377,169 Americans
Peak year
1920
6 babies that year
Average age
114
years old
1941 SSA rank
#4,922
Tracked since 1895
Popularity
Pheba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pheba from the 1890s through to the 1940s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 18 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pheba by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Pheba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Phebas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Pheba
The name Pheba is an English feminine given name of uncertain origin. It may be derived from the Greek word "phoibos," meaning "radiant" or "bright," which is also the name of the Greek god Apollo, known for his association with the sun and light.
Some sources suggest that Pheba could be a variant spelling of the biblical name Phoebe, which appears in the New Testament as the name of a female helper or deaconess in the church at Cenchreae. The name Phoebe is derived from the Greek word "phoibē," meaning "bright" or "radiant."
Historically, the name Pheba was relatively uncommon, but it has been recorded in various parts of the English-speaking world. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Pheba Wilkins (1700-1777), an American woman from Massachusetts who was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials.
Another notable bearer of the name was Pheba Miriam Harrold (1857-1953), an American educator and suffragist who campaigned for women's voting rights in the early 20th century. She was also an advocate for temperance and served as the president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in Indiana.
In the literary world, Pheba Couzins (1842-1913) was a British author and novelist who wrote several works of fiction, including "The Blossoming of Her Soul" and "The Awakening of Beatrice."
Pheba Jane Norris (1837-1910) was an American artist known for her landscape paintings, particularly those depicting scenes from the American West. She was one of the first female artists to travel and paint in the western United States.
Pheba Ann Shanley (1857-1949) was an American entrepreneur and businesswoman who owned and operated several successful hotels and restaurants in New York City during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the name Pheba has not been widely popular, it has been used throughout history by individuals from various backgrounds, reflecting its potential origins and meanings related to brightness and radiance.
People
Pheba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pheba as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pheba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pheba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pheba going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 171,377,169 US residents.
Is Pheba a common name?
We classify Pheba as "Very Rare". It ranks above 4.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 53 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pheba most popular?
The single biggest year for Pheba was 1920, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pheba is about 114 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Pheba in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pheba a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pheba in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Pheba still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pheba in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Pheba can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Pheba?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.