Phoebe comes from the Greek phoibos and means "bright" or "radiant"; in Greek mythology Phoebe was a Titaness and the name was also a title of Artemis, goddess of the moon. The New Testament mentions a deaconess Phoebe, and the sitcom Friends gave the name to the quirky Phoebe Buffay. In the United States Phoebe ranked 440th in 2000 and has risen steadily since 2018, from number 320 to number 157 in 2025, its best rank in this century.