Phoebe
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "bright, radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 33,273 living Americans carry the first name Phoebe. It sits at #183 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Phoebe today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Phoebe births was 2024 (1,639 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Phoebe. 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 Phoebe with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
33K
~ 1 in 10,301 Americans
Peak year
2024
1,639 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2004 SSA rank
#183
Tracked since 1880
Census
Phoebe in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 28,474 people with the first name Phoebe, which placed it at #1,293 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
#1,293
National first-name rank
People counted
28K
28,474 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
9.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Phoebe
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Phoebe is White at 69.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.1%) and Hispanic (7.1%). 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 Phoebe 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 Phoebe at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.2% · 19,704
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.1% · 3,171
- Hispanic or Latino7.1% · 2,013
- Two or more races6.2% · 1,759
- Black or African American5.7% · 1,624
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 203
Gender
Gender distribution for Phoebe
Out of the 41,763 babies given the name Phoebe since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Phoebe as a male name
- Ranked #12,740 in 2004
- 5 male births in 2004
- Peak: 2004 (5 births)
Phoebe as a female name
- Ranked #183 in 2024
- 1,639 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (1,639 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Phoebe appears almost entirely female. Of the 28,467 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Phoebe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Phoebe from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 10,640 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Phoebe remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Phoebe 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 Phoebe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Phoebes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Phoebe, while Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 657 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Phoebe
The name Phoebe has its origins in ancient Greek language and culture, dating back to the 1st millennium BC. It is derived from the Greek word "phoibos," meaning "radiant" or "bright." The name was associated with the Greek goddess of the moon, Phoebe, who was also considered a Titan in Greek mythology.
In ancient Greek mythology, Phoebe was the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, and the grandmother of Artemis and Apollo. She was revered for her beauty and her association with the celestial bodies, particularly the moon. The name Phoebe was also used in some ancient Greek texts and writings, such as those of the Greek poet Hesiod, who mentioned her in his work "Theogony."
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Phoebe dates back to the 4th century BC, when it was borne by Phoebe of Cyzicus, a Greek philosopher and mathematician. Another notable figure named Phoebe from ancient times was Phoebe of Corinth, a Christian woman mentioned in the Bible's Book of Romans, who was a deacon in the church of Cenchreae.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Phoebe, including:
1. Phoebe Cary (1824-1871), an American poet and the younger sister of Alice Cary, also a poet.
2. Phoebe Apperson Hearst (1842-1919), an American philanthropist and the mother of William Randolph Hearst, the famous newspaper publisher.
3. Phoebe Waller-Bridge (born 1985), an English actress, writer, and producer, best known for creating and starring in the TV series "Fleabag."
4. Phoebe Snetsinger (1931-1999), an American birdwatcher and author, known for her contributions to the field of ornithology.
5. Phoebe Putnam (1760-1835), an American heroine during the American Revolutionary War, who helped save the life of her husband and a group of soldiers by distracting British troops.
The name Phoebe has maintained its popularity throughout various periods in history, reflecting its connection to ancient Greek mythology and its association with themes of radiance, beauty, and the natural world.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Phoebe
People
Phoebe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Phoebe 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
Phoebe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Phoebe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 33,273 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Phoebe 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 10,301 US residents.
Is Phoebe a common name?
We classify Phoebe as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 41,763 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Phoebe most popular?
The single biggest year for Phoebe was 2024, when 1,639 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Phoebe is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Phoebe in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 28,474 people with the name Phoebe, or 9.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,293 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 Phoebe 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 Phoebe?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Phoebe appears almost entirely female. Of the 28,467 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Phoebe?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Phoebe is White at 69.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.1%) and Hispanic (7.1%). 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 Phoebe most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Phoebe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.2% (19,704 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 Phoebe in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Phoebe a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Phoebe 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 Phoebe still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Phoebe 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 Phoebe 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 are called Phoebe?
You can see how many Americans are named Phoebe on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.