Phebie
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "shining" or "radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Phebie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Phebie today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Phebie births was 1900 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Phebie. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Phebie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1900
6 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2009 SSA rank
#19,506
Tracked since 1900
Popularity
Phebie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Phebie from the 1900s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1900s, with 11 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1900s peak, Phebie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Phebie 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 Phebie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Phebie
The name Phebie is a feminine given name derived from the ancient Greek word "phoibos," which means "radiant" or "bright." It is considered a variant of the name Phoebe, which is also of Greek origin and refers to the Greek goddess of the moon, Phoebe.
The earliest recorded use of the name Phoebe can be traced back to ancient Greek mythology, where it is mentioned in various texts and stories. In Greek mythology, Phoebe was one of the Titans, the daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth). She was also the grandmother of Artemis and Apollo, the twin deities of the moon and sun, respectively.
During the early Christian era, the name Phoebe gained popularity among Christian communities due to its association with a woman mentioned in the New Testament epistle of Romans. In Romans 16:1, the Apostle Paul refers to a woman named Phoebe as a "servant of the church at Cenchreae."
One of the earliest recorded historical figures to bear the name Phebie was Phebie Cary (1824-1871), an American poet and novelist from Ohio. She is best known for her work "Poems and Parodies" published in 1854.
Another notable figure named Phebie was Phebie Ann Morse (1765-1825), an American educator and pioneer in the field of education for the deaf. She established one of the first schools for the deaf in the United States in Hartford, Connecticut.
In the 19th century, Phebie Pauline St. Clair (1850-1922) was a prominent American actress and playwright. She is known for her plays "The Prima Donna" and "The American Girl."
Phebie Weston (1842-1924) was an American activist and advocate for women's rights and temperance movements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Phebie Burgess (1889-1985) was a British actress and singer who performed in both theater and film during the early 20th century.
While the name Phebie is not as common as its variant Phoebe, it has maintained a presence throughout history, with various notable figures bearing this unique and radiant name.
People
Phebie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Phebie 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
Phebie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Phebie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Phebie 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Phebie a common name?
We classify Phebie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Phebie most popular?
The single biggest year for Phebie was 1900, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Phebie is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Phebie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Phebie 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.
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.