The Baby Name Wizard

Reader Contributions

Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Phoenix!

Comments and insights on the name Phoenix: | Edit

Phoenix is a very masculine name for a little boy and a great name for an adult.

Personal experiences with the name Phoenix: | Edit

I love the name Phoenix and was happy when a friend gave the name to her boy. The only glitch was that when I took him around town and people asked me his name they nearly all misheard and thought I said 'Felix'.

Nicknames for Phoenix: | Edit

Nix, Phinx
Nick

Meanings and history of the name Phoenix: | Edit

A phoenix is a mythical bird that is a fire spirit with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to some legends). It has a 500 to 1,000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of its old self in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (Greek for sun-city). It is said that the bird's cry is that of a beautiful song. In very few stories they are able to change into humans.

Famous real-life people named Phoenix: | Edit

Joaquin Phoenix - American actor
River Phoenix - American actor

Phoenix in song, story & screen: | Edit

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - book by J. K. Rowling
Phoenix Wright, title character from the video game series "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney". Phoenix is a defense attorney who fights for justice.