US rank #282 Girls' name Peak 1971 672,480 births

Angela — #282 US girls' name

672,480 babies named Angela in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1971. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1880s2321890s6711900s14001910s55181920s62731930s65181940s122581950s403571960s1592921970s2252661980s1165941990s451722000s313192010s154882020s6122
#282
of 17,661 girls in use

More common than 98% of names given to girls today.

1970s
Peak decade

33% of everyone ever named Angela was born in this single decade.

1971
Single peak year

25,900 babies were named Angela in 1971 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Angela

The Social Security Administration has registered 672,480 babies named Angela between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Angela currently holds the #282 rank among girls for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1971, when 25,900 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Angela performed strongest in the 1970s, accumulating 225,266 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Angela shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 56,736 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Texas and New York. In total, SSA state-level files list Angela in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Angela in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 672,480 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Angela at a glance

Top 1,000 girls' name

Total births

672,480

Since 1880

145 years of records

Peak year

1971

25,900 births that year

Strongest decade: 1970s

Current rank

#282

Among girls

As of 2024

Active since

1880

Recorded for 145 years

Last year on file: 2024

Angela popularity over time — girls

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880

Top 1,000 girls' name
Peak year (1971)
25,900
Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
-10,000010,00020,00030,000 202420051986196719481929191018911880 7

Angela popularity over time — boys

2,135 total births recorded since 1918 (Angela as boys' name)

Unisex variant — 2,135 births
020406080100 200819981988197819681958194519281918 5

Angela by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1970s
Peak decade
1970s
225,266 births that decade — 33% of Angela's all-time total
1880s2321890s6711900s14001910s55181920s62731930s65181940s122581950s403571960s1592921970s2252661980s1165941990s451722000s313192010s154882020s6122

Angela by state

Where Angela concentrates geographically — total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Angela
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
56,736 8.4%
#2 Texas
45,840 6.8%
#3 New York
38,531 5.7%
#4 Ohio
37,841 5.6%
#5 Illinois
33,636 5.0%
#6 Michigan
27,756 4.1%
#7 Pennsylvania
26,349 3.9%
#8 North Carolina
25,487 3.8%
California share of Angela's total US births 8.4%
Even split

56,736 of 672,480 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Angela appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Angela?
672,480 babies have been named Angela since 1880. It currently ranks #282 among girls. The peak year was 1971 with 25,900 births.
When was Angela most popular?
Angela was most popular in the 1970s decade with 225,266 total births. The single peak year was 1971.
Where is Angela most popular?
The top states for the name Angela are California (56,736 births), Texas (45,840 births), New York (38,531 births).
How long has the name Angela been used?
Angela has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 145 years of data through 2024.
What names are similar to Angela?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Angelina, Angel, Angelica, Angie, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

Keep exploring Angela

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Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.