Pheobe
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "shining" or "bright".
Name Census estimates that about 696 living Americans carry the first name Pheobe. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pheobe today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pheobe births was 2009 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pheobe. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Pheobe with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
696
~ 1 in 492,463 Americans
Peak year
2009
49 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,806
Tracked since 1882
Census
Pheobe in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 714 people with the first name Pheobe, which placed it at #15,948 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#15,948
National first-name rank
People counted
714
714 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pheobe
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pheobe is White at 63.6%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Hispanic (7.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Pheobe described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Pheobe at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.6% · 454
- Black or African American13.3% · 95
- Hispanic or Latino7.6% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.3% · 52
- Two or more races6.3% · 45
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 14
Popularity
Pheobe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pheobe from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 243 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pheobe 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 Pheobe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pheobes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, Indiana, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Pheobe, while Pennsylvania, Indiana, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Pheobe
The name Phoebe has its roots in ancient Greek mythology and language. It is derived from the Greek word "phoibos," which means "radiant" or "bright." The name is closely associated with the Greek goddess Phoebe, who was known as the personification of the moon and its brilliance.
In Greek mythology, Phoebe was one of the original Titans, the ancient deities that preceded the Olympian gods. She was the daughter of Uranus (the personification of the sky) and Gaia (the personification of the earth). Phoebe was also the grandmother of Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt, the moon, and childbirth.
The name Phoebe first gained popularity in ancient Greece and later spread throughout the Mediterranean region. It was a widely used name among the Greeks and Romans, with several notable historical figures bearing this name.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Phoebe is found in the New Testament of the Bible. In the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul mentions a woman named Phoebe, who was a deacon (or servant) of the church in Cenchreae. This reference dates back to the 1st century AD.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have been named Phoebe. Some examples include:
1. Phoebe Cary (1824-1871), an American poet and writer, best known for her poems and contributions to the literary world.
2. Phoebe Waller-Bridge (born 1985), a British actress, writer, and producer, renowned for her work on the acclaimed series "Fleabag" and "Killing Eve."
3. Phoebe Ephron (1914-1971), an American playwright, screenwriter, and feminist author, known for her contributions to the women's liberation movement.
4. Phoebe Snow (1950-2011), an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her unique vocal style and hits like "Poetry Man" and "Woodstock."
5. Phoebe Legere (c. 1712-1781), an American folk hero and Revolutionary War figure, famous for her act of spiking the British soldiers' drink with a laxative during the American Revolution.
The name Phoebe has maintained its popularity throughout various cultures and time periods, with its origins rooted in the rich Greek mythology and language. Its association with the radiant moon goddess and its meaning of "bright" or "radiant" have contributed to its enduring appeal as a given name.
People
Pheobe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pheobe 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
Pheobe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pheobe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 696 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pheobe 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 492,463 US residents.
Is Pheobe a common name?
We classify Pheobe as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,120 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pheobe most popular?
The single biggest year for Pheobe was 2009, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pheobe is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pheobe in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 714 people with the name Pheobe, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,948 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Pheobe in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Pheobe?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pheobe appears almost entirely female. Of the 714 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Pheobe?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pheobe is White at 63.6%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Hispanic (7.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Pheobe most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Pheobe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.6% (454 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Pheobe in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pheobe a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pheobe 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 Pheobe still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pheobe 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 Pheobe 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.
How many people have the name Pheobe?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Pheobe, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.