How Many People Are Named Pamela?
people named Pamela are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 692 people in the US has this name
Based on 596,462 babies named Pamela in Social Security records from 1895 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
⭐ Uncommon
Peak Year
27,398 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
This name was invented in the late 16th century by the poet Sir Philip Sidney for use in his poem 'Arcadia'. He possibly intended it to mean "all sweetness" from Greek παν (pan) "all" and μελι (meli) "honey". It was later employed by author Samuel Richardson for the heroine in his novel 'Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded' (1740), after which time it became used as a given name. It did not become popular until the 20th century.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Same Sound, Other Spellings
These names are pronounced like Pamela in English. Counting Pamela and these spellings together, about 495,829 people alive in the US have the name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Almost all of the babies given the name Pamela (99.8%) were girls.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Pamela alive today is about 63 years old, and 70% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 58 and 71 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Pamela first appears in the records in 1895 and was given most often in 1954, to 27,398 babies. In 2025, 82 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1895 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Pamela reached #10 among girls' names in 1953, and was in the top 10 in 1953. In 2025 it ranked #2,251.
| Girls | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #2,251 |
| Best rank | #10 (1953) |
| Years in the top 10 | 1 |
| Years in the top 100 | 39 (1943 to 1983) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #13 in the 1950s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Pamela alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Pamela were born in California than in any other state: about 38,585 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Pamela was given about 1.3 times as often in Indiana, Maine and Vermont.
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