# Pamela (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/pamela/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “all”, “honey” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpæmələ/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Pammy, Pam, Pammie |
| Variant spellings | Pammela |
| US babies named this | 596,462 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 1,386 / 595,076 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 363, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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.

## What it means

Pamela is grouped under honey.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 266 | 962 |
| 2012 | 215 | 1,151 |
| 2013 | 205 | 1,176 |
| 2014 | 185 | 1,290 |
| 2015 | 167 | 1,402 |
| 2016 | 184 | 1,305 |
| 2017 | 155 | 1,456 |
| 2018 | 136 | 1,587 |
| 2019 | 146 | 1,497 |
| 2020 | 123 | 1,674 |
| 2021 | 112 | 1,812 |
| 2022 | 95 | 2,045 |
| 2023 | 102 | 1,941 |
| 2024 | 88 | 2,169 |
| 2025 | 82 | 2,251 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 12 | 3,556 |
| 1982 | 16 | 2,937 |
| 1983 | 10 | 4,070 |
| 1984 | 8 | 4,856 |
| 1985 | 11 | 3,974 |
| 1986 | 7 | 5,763 |
| 1987 | 11 | 4,171 |
| 1988 | 7 | 6,263 |
| 1989 | 12 | 4,452 |
| 1990 | 11 | 4,907 |
| 1991 | 7 | 7,071 |
| 1992 | 5 | 9,437 |
| 1993 | 7 | 7,402 |
| 1999 | 5 | 11,152 |
| 2004 | 5 | 12,727 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 9 | 2,636 |
| 2012 | 11 | 2,338 |
| 2013 | 7 | 3,160 |
| 2014 | 8 | 2,862 |
| 2015 | 7 | 3,252 |
| 2016 | 5 | 4,096 |
| 2017 | 6 | 3,583 |
| 2018 | 6 | 3,518 |
| 2019 | 5 | 4,001 |
| 2020 | 9 | 2,615 |
| 2021 | 18 | 1,628 |
| 2022 | 7 | 3,148 |
| 2023 | 9 | 2,689 |
| 2024 | 10 | 2,574 |
| 2025 | 10 | 2,605 |

## People named Pamela

- Pamela Anderson, Canadian actress and model (born 1967)
- Pamela Melroy, American astronaut
- Pamela Adlon, American actress
- Pamela Colman Smith, British occultist, artist and illustrator (1878–1951)
- Pamela Reed, American actress
- Pamela Sue Martin, American actress
- Pamela Bach, American actress (1963–2025)
- Pamela Tiffin, American actress and model (1942–2020)
- Pamela Geller, American far-right activist, blogger, commentator and conspiracy theorist
- Pamela Rendi-Wagner, Austrian physician and politician (born 1971)
- Pamela Bellwood, American actress
- Pamela C. Rasmussen, American ornithologist

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.