Girl or boy · Greek
Phoenix
Say it: FEE-niks
Meaning
From Greek phoinix, the mythical bird reborn from its ashes; the word also meant 'Phoenician' and 'purple-red'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Used for both sexes in the US since the 1990s.
Its wave through time
Rising now
In the United States
- 29,977 babies given this name since 1968
- At its height in 2020, about 1 in 1,100 boys
- 2,607 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Ancient Greek literature and history (Homer, Herodotus, Plutarch and others)
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.