Pamela
Pamela was given to 82 girls in 2025, #2,251 among girls’ names; 596,462 Americans have been recorded with it since 1895 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 487,000 Americans named Pamela and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (82% of everyone recorded); the median is 66 years old and half are between 59 and 72.
Pamela is the #38 most common first name among living American women and girls, by this estimate.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Pamela by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Pamela mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Pamela is “a female given name originating as a coinage.”
Invented by Sir Philip Sidney for his pastoral poem The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (c 1593). Seemingly created from scratch; some imagine an analysis as Ancient Greek πᾶς (pâs, “all”) + μέλι (méli, “honey”) but there is no evidence that this was intended.
/ˈpæmələ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Pamela?
#2,251 among girls’ names, 2025
Pamela fell from #1,402 in 2015 to #2,251 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 93.6 to 51.0 per million.
27,398 babies in 1954, the peak
Pamela peaked in 1954, when 27,398 babies were given it (27,361 girls, #12 among girls’ names). The 82 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 82 | #2,251 | 0.05 |
| 2024 | 88 | #2,169 | 0.05 |
| 2023 | 102 | #1,941 | 0.06 |
| 2022 | 95 | #2,045 | 0.06 |
| 2021 | 112 | #1,812 | 0.07 |
| 2020 | 123 | #1,674 | 0.08 |
| 2019 | 146 | #1,497 | 0.09 |
| 2018 | 136 | #1,587 | 0.08 |
| 2017 | 155 | #1,456 | 0.09 |
| 2016 | 184 | #1,305 | 0.10 |
Every recorded year (120)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 167 | #1,402 | 0.09 |
| 2014 | 185 | #1,290 | 0.10 |
| 2013 | 205 | #1,176 | 0.12 |
| 2012 | 215 | #1,151 | 0.12 |
| 2011 | 266 | #962 | 0.15 |
| 2010 | 258 | #984 | 0.15 |
| 2009 | 331 | #845 | 0.18 |
| 2008 | 455 | #672 | 0.24 |
| 2007 | 516 | #582 | 0.27 |
| 2006 | 568 | #532 | 0.30 |
| 2005 | 457 | #620 | 0.25 |
| 2004 | 540 | #527 | 0.29 |
| 2003 | 673 | #447 | 0.37 |
| 2002 | 530 | #517 | 0.29 |
| 2001 | 578 | #484 | 0.32 |
| 2000 | 607 | #458 | 0.33 |
| 1999 | 655 | #421 | 0.37 |
| 1998 | 714 | #388 | 0.40 |
| 1997 | 770 | #360 | 0.44 |
| 1996 | 814 | #341 | 0.46 |
| 1995 | 687 | #385 | 0.39 |
| 1994 | 748 | #352 | 0.42 |
| 1993 | 806 | #324 | 0.45 |
| 1992 | 920 | #302 | 0.50 |
| 1991 | 1,085 | #259 | 0.58 |
| 1990 | 1,194 | #238 | 0.63 |
| 1989 | 1,331 | #199 | 0.72 |
| 1988 | 1,510 | #184 | 0.85 |
| 1987 | 1,784 | #153 | 1.0 |
| 1986 | 2,016 | #138 | 1.2 |
| 1985 | 2,468 | #116 | 1.4 |
| 1984 | 2,642 | #104 | 1.6 |
| 1983 | 3,029 | #91 | 1.8 |
| 1982 | 3,546 | #82 | 2.1 |
| 1981 | 3,881 | #76 | 2.3 |
| 1980 | 3,533 | #86 | 2.1 |
| 1979 | 3,365 | #90 | 2.1 |
| 1978 | 2,690 | #109 | 1.8 |
| 1977 | 2,830 | #102 | 1.8 |
| 1976 | 3,364 | #84 | 2.3 |
| 1975 | 4,177 | #70 | 2.9 |
| 1974 | 5,272 | #54 | 3.6 |
| 1973 | 5,813 | #47 | 4.0 |
| 1972 | 7,472 | #34 | 4.9 |
| 1971 | 10,149 | #28 | 6.1 |
| 1970 | 12,907 | #26 | 7.4 |
| 1969 | 13,355 | #24 | 7.9 |
| 1968 | 14,031 | #20 | 8.6 |
| 1967 | 15,368 | #17 | 9.3 |
| 1966 | 16,249 | #15 | 9.6 |
| 1965 | 17,467 | #12 | 9.9 |
| 1964 | 19,823 | #11 | 10.5 |
| 1963 | 20,593 | #14 | 10.7 |
| 1962 | 21,270 | #13 | 10.8 |
| 1961 | 21,691 | #15 | 10.7 |
| 1960 | 22,092 | #14 | 10.9 |
| 1959 | 24,714 | #12 | 12.2 |
| 1958 | 25,279 | #11 | 12.6 |
| 1957 | 25,015 | #12 | 12.2 |
| 1956 | 26,928 | #12 | 13.4 |
| 1955 | 26,690 | #12 | 13.7 |
| 1954 | 27,361 | #12 | 14.1 |
| 1953 | 25,760 | #10 | 13.7 |
| 1952 | 20,879 | #17 | 11.3 |
| 1951 | 18,570 | #16 | 10.3 |
| 1950 | 16,202 | #17 | 9.5 |
| 1949 | 15,132 | #21 | 8.8 |
| 1948 | 14,281 | #22 | 8.4 |
| 1947 | 12,398 | #28 | 7.0 |
| 1946 | 9,367 | #34 | 6.0 |
| 1945 | 6,169 | #42 | 4.7 |
| 1944 | 6,204 | #44 | 4.7 |
| 1943 | 4,839 | #54 | 3.5 |
| 1942 | 2,632 | #106 | 1.9 |
| 1941 | 1,468 | #155 | 1.2 |
| 1940 | 631 | #251 | 0.55 |
| 1939 | 337 | #348 | 0.31 |
| 1938 | 314 | #369 | 0.28 |
| 1937 | 264 | #399 | 0.25 |
| 1936 | 220 | #434 | 0.21 |
| 1935 | 194 | #459 | 0.19 |
| 1934 | 147 | #535 | 0.14 |
| 1933 | 108 | #632 | 0.11 |
| 1932 | 96 | #693 | 0.09 |
| 1931 | 99 | #672 | 0.09 |
| 1930 | 94 | #725 | 0.08 |
| 1929 | 110 | #669 | 0.10 |
| 1928 | 100 | #709 | 0.09 |
| 1927 | 67 | #916 | 0.06 |
| 1926 | 76 | #852 | 0.06 |
| 1925 | 75 | #864 | 0.06 |
| 1924 | 51 | #1,105 | 0.04 |
| 1923 | 50 | #1,083 | 0.04 |
| 1922 | 38 | #1,280 | 0.03 |
| 1921 | 33 | #1,430 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 27 | #1,618 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 22 | #1,793 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 18 | #2,085 | 0.02 |
| 1917 | 17 | #2,078 | 0.02 |
| 1916 | 12 | #2,617 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 22 | #1,608 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 13 | #1,989 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 16 | #1,513 | 0.03 |
| 1912 | 17 | #1,337 | 0.03 |
| 1911 | 8 | #1,920 | 0.02 |
| 1910 | 5 | #2,704 | 0.01 |
| 1906 | 6 | #1,903 | 0.02 |
| 1904 | 5 | #2,107 | 0.02 |
| 1898 | 6 | #1,651 | 0.02 |
| 1895 | 5 | #1,761 | 0.02 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Pamela a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Pamela has been given almost only to girls: 1,386 boys in 120 years of records.
Girls and boys named Pamela: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Pamela, and how old are they?
487,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 82% of the 596,462 Americans ever recorded as Pamela. The median Pamela alive today is 66 years old; half are between 59 and 72.
The 2020 Census counted 495,991 people named Pamela (495,700 women and girls, 291 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 519,870 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 12,300 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 311,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 127,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 27,700 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 8,050 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,770 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Pamela born?
The states with the most babies named Pamela are California, Ohio and New York, with 21% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 47,408 | #1,819 | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 37,559 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| New York | 36,718 | #1,791 | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 35,566 | #1,573 | 1.1× |
| Texas | 32,120 | #2,172 | 0.9× |
| Michigan | 30,374 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 27,962 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Indiana | 19,954 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| North Carolina | 18,683 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Georgia | 16,610 | not ranked | 1.1× |
Where Pamela is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Pamela is most over-represented in Indiana: since 1910 it was given 1.2 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Pamela with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 611,558 babies since 1880, Pamela is the most given (98% of them). In 2025 it was given to 82 of their 82 babies (100%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Pamela
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Pamela and names like it
- Compare Pamela and PamalaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sPamela peaked in 1954.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Pamela since 1910.
- Coined namesWiktionary’s origin for Pamela: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1954The year the most babies were named Pamela.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Pamela alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with PMost given first.