Honest thoughts on Phoebe

[OffToButtonM00n]

Strong contender for DD, however, I’ve recently been having some reservations as although it gets a lot of love on name forums, I’ve had quite a few crinkled noses IRL when ‘road testing’.

1. Will it forever have the ‘kooky’ Friends association attached to it?

1. There are a few cruel nicknames I can think of which worry me slightly like Pee-bee, Fleabee, Feeble and Phoebe-jeebies.

1. Does it travel well if she wanted to live or study abroad?

Any Phoebe mums out there that can reassure me?! I do love it but just having a wobble.

I think its lovely. It did make me instantly think of friends BUT once the person gets to know her well it will be here they think of first. I only thought of friends because I don't know any phoebes.

I think it’s lovely! I wouldn’t worry about the Friends association. No idea about how it travels, but children will think of rude nicknames for any name if they are minded to.

I like the name. It's not that unusual anymore and I've never heard of any rude nicknames associated with it. She might have to spell it out to people but there are lots of names like that. I doubt if her peer group will know about Friends by the time she's old enough to care.

I have a teen Phoebe, who usually gets called Phoebes by adults and kids. I don't think she has ever been called a nickname like you mention. I didn't watch Friends.

I don't think that anybody has struggled with pronunciation (we've had holidays in Spain/Belgium/Netherland/Denmark/France).

The only downer is that about 10% of the population can't spell it (including school staff). They can't spell her six letter surname either.

I don’t know about travel but tbh, I wouldn’t worry about ‘Friends’, the tv show was 30 yrs ago. It won’t mean a thing to her contemporaries.

Phoebe doesn’t leap out as an especially ‘bully-friendly’ name. Of course, kids will always find a way to pick on a child if they want to - name, hair, glasses, too tall/short/fat/thin/clever/‘thick’/pretty/ugly/ whatever.

The spelling might ‘get’ a few people but on the whole, it’s a pretty classic, IMO.

I don't have a Phoebe but am giving my opinion anyway
I like it.
I wouldn't worry about the Friends association. Most names have an association or several.
Unfortunately, kids will come up with cruel nicknames for ANYTHING. Nothing to be done about that.
Abroad: if she's mixing with people from all over, there will be names from all over. It won't be unusually difficult, I don't imagine.

I definitely find it hard to spell. Not sure why but I have a total mental block in relation to it. Most people can spell it though.

I wouldn't worry about nicknames, my girls get called Porridge and Pudgey which are not even remotely close to their names!

I love the name Phoebe. Although I’m a fan of Friends, i don’t think of Friends when I hear it because I know another Phoebe. And as a Pp said nicknames can be made from most names. I don’t think the nicknames you are worried about are obvious. I wouldn’t have thought of them.

There's a Phoebe in my 10 year olds class. Lovely name, am sure the kids have never heard of friends and to be honest it never occurred to me

I work in preschool and had 2 Phoebes in 2 years so it's not uncommon. (Plus my niece, it's really quite popular). I tend to call them all Feebs.

I know a handful of girls named Phoebe; a 17-yr-old, 12-yr-old and 4-yr-old. Neither of the older two are bothered by the Friends association and both their groups have had/are going through a Friends phase and the younger one isn't aware of the association yet. None of them have mentioned any nickname nastiness and for the older two at any rate, they're perfectly capable of holding their own and throwing back an equally silly name rhyme should they so desire. Most names can be turned into something silly with a bit of word play e.g. Olly Wally, Ava Saver, Easy Evie, Pooey Louie etc. etc.

Personally, I think it's a great name. Try not to overthink yourself out of a name you like.

I like it too its different to the usual! Next generation going up won't get the friends connection unless their parents bring it up.

I have a grown up Phoebe (she's now 20). I agree the spelling can be a pain in the ass - we've had the usual Pheobe, then Feeby, Pheobie and even Furby amongst others over the years 🙄.

I have been asked for decades whether I'm a Friends fan but not sure if Friends is so much part of the culture now, given its age. I just roll my eyes and say no.

Never any issues travelling with the pronunciation at all.

Phoebe is inoffensive, but dull to me. It’s been so popular for so long that I don’t think you could say that there’s anything objectively bad about it. The Friends association is there, but again due to the fact Phoebe is so popular it’s not a big deal. The worst that will happen is some people might comment ‘like Friends?’ and you can say that no, you just liked the name.

@shoofly

There's a Phoebe in my 10 year olds class. Lovely name, am sure the kids have never heard of friends and to be honest it never occurred to me

My 13yo DD is obsessed with Friends!

I like it!

I've been considering it but have the same concerns!

Definitely wouldn’t worry about Friends, it’s a common enough name to have many different associations. I know a Phoebe who goes by ‘Fifi’.

Fun fact - ONS stats for girls names shows more than a handful of people have named their daughter Phoebe misspelt as Pheobe…

I have a 24 year old Phoebe. She has never been known by any nickname. We got a few oh like in friends when she was in primary (height of friends fewer years) but its never mentioned now.

Ours is named after JD Salingers The catcher in the Rye.

I still love it as a name even after 24 years (well 24 on Sunday )

The best name ever!

I think it’s a gorgeous name, a friend from childhood used it and it suits her to a tee!

Love Phoebe, makes a change from all the Ellas, Avas, Evies, Graces, Islas etc.

Any name can be made into or rhymed with something rude.

I don’t associate it with Friends and anyway that is very old now.

I adore this name. It's my dd's middle name. It would hve been a first name but I can't get over the way it's spelt .. just doesn't look right to me and that puts me off.
However it's a very beautiful name.

It looks right if you've done Latin, Greek or French.