Phoebe
Meaning of Phoebe
Phoebe, pronounced breezily as FEE-bee, flits into the nursery like a firefly over a monsoon-fresh paddy field—small in size, huge in glow. Rooted in ancient Greece, the name meant “bright, radiant,” an epithet for the moon-touched Titaness who passed her silver torch to Artemis. Centuries later, Saint Paul trusted a deaconess named Phoebe to hand-deliver his letter to the Romans, so the name also carries a whiff of first-class reliability (think Indian Railways’ “samaan surakshit hai, madam!” assurance). Fast-forward to pop culture and you’ll spot eccentric, guitar-strumming Phoebe Buffay from Friends, reminding everyone that brightness can be brilliantly quirky. Even astronomers got swept up, christening a Saturnian moon Phoebe—talk about cosmic reach! In the U.S. charts she’s been steadily climbing since the ’90s, rising faster than a hot jalebi in syrup, proof that parents everywhere are rediscovering her warm, gleaming charm. Altogether, Phoebe feels like a diya—simple to hold, impossible to ignore, and forever associated with light that refuses to dim.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as FEE-bee (/ˈfiː.bi/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Phoebe
| American singer songwriter Phoebe Lucille Bridgers crafts melancholic indie folk blending acoustic guitar and electronic production and has won four Grammy Awards from eleven nominations. |
| Phoebe Waller-Bridge is an English actress, screenwriter, and producer who created and starred in Fleabag, winning multiple Emmys and Golden Globes, and later earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for writing and producing Killing Eve. |
| Phoebe Hearst - Phoebe Elizabeth Apperson Hearst was an American philanthropist, feminist, and suffragist who founded the University of California Museum of Anthropology, now the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, and co-founded the National Parent-Teacher Association. |
| Based in Montreal, Canada, actress, writer, and producer Phoebe Greenberg is the daughter of Minto Group cofounder Irving Greenberg and Shirley Greenberg and the mother of artist Miles Greenberg. |
| Phoebe Cates Kline is an American businesswoman and retired actress and model known for Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the Gremlins films, and she founded the Blue Tree boutique in 2005. |
| Phoebe Holiday Ryan is an American singer and songwriter who gained attention in 2015 with a mashup of R Kelly and Miguel hits and her single Mine from her debut EP, then signed with Columbia Records. |
| Phoebe Dynevor is an English actress known for Bridgerton seasons one and two and the films The Colour Room, Fair Play, and Inheritance, and she was a BAFTA Rising Star nominee in 2024. |
| Phoebe Strole is an American actress known for creating the role of Anna in the 2006 Broadway musical Spring Awakening. |
| Phoebe Philo is an English fashion designer who led Chloe from 2001 to 2006 and Celine from 2008 to 2017, and launched her namesake label in 2023. |
| Phoebe Valentine Judge is an American journalist best known as the host and co creator of the podcasts Criminal and This Is Love. |
| Phoebe Cary, an American poet and younger sister of Alice Cary, co-published poems in 1849, later issued her own volumes, and was honored with posthumous anthologies of their unpublished work. |
| Phoebe Robinson is an American comedian, New York Times bestselling writer, and actress based in New York City. |
| Phoebe Fox is an English actress nominated for Olivier and Evening Standard awards, known for roles in Black Mirror, The Woman in Black Angel of Death, The Hollow Crown Wars of the Roses, and The Great. |
| Phoebe English is an English fashion designer who runs her own womenswear and menswear label. |
| American artist Phoebe Beasley is the only artist to receive the Presidential Seal from two US presidents, the first African American woman to lead the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and the official artist of the 1987 and 2000 Los Angeles Marathons. |
