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Phaedra

#7,407 in 2025Girls' name

Bright

Phaedra has been given to 1,902 babies in the U.S. since 1963. In 2025 it ranked #7,407 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1971, with 96 recorded.

Babies named Phaedra, 2025

1 in 221,000

Phaedra over time, 1880–2025

Girls
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Phaedra: meaning, origin, and history

Bright

Ancient Greek

What Phaedra means

Phaedra means “bright”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Latin Phaedra, from Ancient Greek Φαίδρᾱ (Phaídrā). The myth has been retold several times, in plays (in classical times in Euripides's Hippolytus and Seneca the Younger's Phaedra, later in Racine's Phèdre), and more recently in other media.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Phaedra (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Phaedra is used in English. Its origins include Ancient Greek.

Phaedra comes through Latin Phaedra and Ancient Greek Φαίδρᾱ.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Phaedra is pronounced /ˈfiːdɹə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,902 girls were recorded with the name Phaedra between 1963 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 96 in 1971; its best national rank was #1,193 in 1971.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #5,612 in 2020 to #7,407 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #4,208 in 2015 to #7,407 in 2025.

How common is Phaedra?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 221,000
15 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 107,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#7,407
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
153,194 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Phaedra sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 153,194 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Phaedra. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Phaedras were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Phaedra was born before 1982 — so the typical Phaedra is around 43 today.

Median birth year
1982
About 43 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
31.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
33.7%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,902
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 31.0% of all recorded uses (589).

Is Phaedra rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−1,304
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,795
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−3,199
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.43×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
15.6%
Peak was 1971 (96)
Years since peak
54
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
17.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,193
1971

Spellings of Phaedra

Phaedra is not the most common spelling — Chandra is, with 77.8% against Phaedra's 8.6%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Phaedra is used

Across 1910–2025, Phaedra was most concentrated in Alabama — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 272,963 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Alabama1 in 100,000
  2. 2California1 in 100,000
  3. 3Florida1 in —
  4. 4Georgia1 in —
  5. 5Illinois1 in —
  6. 6Louisiana1 in —
  7. 7Massachusetts1 in —
  8. 8Maryland1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Phaedra has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Phaedra around the world

Where Phaedra ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1998–2025
    #4,867
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1998–2022
    #2,896
    in 2022
  • South Australia
    1974–1987
    #684
    in 1987

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Phaedra by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#7,407
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,795
Best rank ever
#1,193
1971
Peak year
1971
96 that year
First recorded
1963
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,902
Count in 2025
15

Names similar to Phaedra

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

LisandraDeandraDiandraLeandraKindraSidraKeandraDeondraShondraShandraPhaidraDeirdraLysandraKeondraPhadraIsidraKiandraAlandraDiedraCandraCalandraDeedraLeondraLakendra

Sibling names for Phaedra

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Phaedra

Top names of 1971, Phaedra's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1971Girls' names starting with PAncient Greek NamesAncient Names Outside the Top 1000