Phoebe

Phoebe meaning

Phoebe is an international and Christian girl's name of Greek origin.

Bright, radiant, pure; feminine of Greek phoibos

Phoebe comes from Greek Phoibē, the feminine of phoibos, "bright". The Liddell-Scott-Jones lexicon gives phoibos as pure, bright and radiant, used of fire, light and water, and as Phoebus, "the bright one", a title of Apollo. In Greek myth Phoebe was a Titan and grandmother of Apollo and Artemis, and the poets used her name for the moon. In the New Testament Paul commends Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae near Corinth, who probably carried his letter to Rome (Romans 16:1). It is said FEE-bee, and its meaning is close to Indian names such as Ujjwala.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, G5402 · entry Phoibē · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Strong's G5402, Phoibē (Bible Hub) · LSJ, φοῖβος (Logeion)

Famous namesakes

• Phoebe, deaconess of Cenchreae commended by Paul in Romans 16:1
• Phoebe, a Titan of Greek myth linked with the moon

Popularity abroad

• #157 United States, girls 2025 (up 26 from 183 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #14 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Phoebe · Phebe · Pheobe

Related names

Also meaning light

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