Meaning not yet researched.
Pamela: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 82 in 2025. Its best rank was #10 in 1953.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #10 in 1953; #2,251 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Pamela in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#2,251 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1953, at #10.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Pamela: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 82 girls in 2025. Peak: #10 in 1953 · most girls in one year: 27,361 (1954).
In 2025, 82 US girls were named Pamela, making it the 2,251st most common girls’ name of the year, down 82 places from #2,169 in 2024. That is 6 fewer than the 88 girls named Pamela in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #10, reached in 1953. The most girls given the name in a single year was 27,361, in 1954. For comparison, it was #1,402 in 2015 and #17 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Pamela in 120 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1895 with 5 babies. In all, 596,462 US babies have been given the name, 99.7% of them girls and 0.2% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1950s, with 237,775 babies named Pamela.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 1,223 US girls were named Pamela; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 184. In 2025 that was about 1 in 19,601 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Pamela ranked highest in Illinois in 2025, at #1,573 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Pam (33,148 babies since 1880), Pamala (7,357 babies since 1880), Pamella (3,166 babies since 1880) and Pamelia (2,229 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Pamila, Pamula and Pamilla are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to Pam.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in Dutch, English, Italian and Polish. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Pamila (755), Pamula (696), Pamilla (44), Pamalla (23), Pammela (6).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
US girls. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five girls got the name, so 46 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 5 | #1,573 | — |
| New York | 7 | #1,791 | #957 |
| California | 12 | #1,819 | #1,418 |
| Florida | 7 | #1,827 | #973 |
| Texas | 10 | #2,172 | #1,454 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 82 | #2,251 | — | — |
| 2024 | 88 | #2,169 | — | — |
| 2023 | 102 | #1,941 | — | — |
| 2022 | 95 | #2,045 | — | — |
| 2021 | 112 | #1,812 | — | — |
| 2020 | 123 | #1,674 | — | — |
| 2019 | 146 | #1,497 | — | — |
| 2018 | 136 | #1,587 | — | — |
| 2017 | 155 | #1,456 | — | — |
| 2016 | 184 | #1,305 | — | — |
| 2015 | 167 | #1,402 | — | — |
| 2014 | 185 | #1,290 | — | — |
| 2013 | 205 | #1,176 | — | — |
| 2012 | 215 | #1,151 | — | — |
| 2011 | 266 | #962 | — | — |
| 2010 | 258 | #984 | — | — |
| 2009 | 331 | #845 | — | — |
| 2008 | 455 | #672 | — | — |
| 2007 | 516 | #582 | — | — |
| 2006 | 568 | #532 | — | — |
| 2005 | 457 | #620 | — | — |
| 2004 | 540 | #527 | 5 | #12,727 |
| 2003 | 673 | #447 | — | — |
| 2002 | 530 | #517 | — | — |
| 2001 | 578 | #484 | — | — |
| 2000 | 607 | #458 | — | — |
| 1999 | 655 | #421 | 5 | #11,152 |
| 1998 | 714 | #388 | — | — |
| 1997 | 770 | #360 | — | — |
| 1996 | 814 | #341 | — | — |
| 1995 | 687 | #385 | — | — |
| 1994 | 748 | #352 | — | — |
| 1993 | 806 | #324 | 7 | #7,402 |
| 1992 | 920 | #302 | 5 | #9,437 |
| 1991 | 1,085 | #259 | 7 | #7,071 |
| 1990 | 1,194 | #238 | 11 | #4,907 |
| 1989 | 1,331 | #199 | 12 | #4,452 |
| 1988 | 1,510 | #184 | 7 | #6,263 |
| 1987 | 1,784 | #153 | 11 | #4,171 |
| 1986 | 2,016 | #138 | 7 | #5,763 |
| 1985 | 2,468 | #116 | 11 | #3,974 |
| 1984 | 2,642 | #104 | 8 | #4,856 |
| 1983 | 3,029 | #91 | 10 | #4,070 |
| 1982 | 3,546 | #82 | 16 | #2,937 |
| 1981 | 3,881 | #76 | 12 | #3,556 |
| 1980 | 3,533 | #86 | 7 | #5,354 |
| 1979 | 3,365 | #90 | 13 | #3,308 |
| 1978 | 2,690 | #109 | 8 | #4,453 |
| 1977 | 2,830 | #102 | 14 | #3,006 |
| 1976 | 3,364 | #84 | 20 | #2,308 |
| 1975 | 4,177 | #70 | 17 | #2,511 |
| 1974 | 5,272 | #54 | 21 | #2,096 |
| 1973 | 5,813 | #47 | 20 | #2,105 |
| 1972 | 7,472 | #34 | 21 | #2,008 |
| 1971 | 10,149 | #28 | 43 | #1,284 |
| 1970 | 12,907 | #26 | 51 | #1,163 |
| 1969 | 13,355 | #24 | 60 | #998 |
| 1968 | 14,031 | #20 | 40 | #1,211 |
| 1967 | 15,368 | #17 | 49 | #1,056 |
| 1966 | 16,249 | #15 | 38 | #1,229 |
| 1965 | 17,467 | #12 | 36 | #1,289 |
| 1964 | 19,823 | #11 | 40 | #1,229 |
| 1963 | 20,593 | #14 | 63 | #953 |
| 1962 | 21,270 | #13 | 35 | #1,333 |
| 1961 | 21,691 | #15 | 48 | #1,145 |
| 1960 | 22,092 | #14 | 53 | #1,068 |
| 1959 | 24,714 | #12 | 38 | #1,276 |
| 1958 | 25,279 | #11 | 58 | #1,005 |
| 1957 | 25,015 | #12 | 48 | #1,113 |
| 1956 | 26,928 | #12 | 41 | #1,201 |
| 1955 | 26,690 | #12 | 38 | #1,235 |
| 1954 | 27,361 | #12 | 37 | #1,238 |
| 1953 | 25,760 | #10 | 32 | #1,351 |
| 1952 | 20,879 | #17 | 31 | #1,371 |
| 1951 | 18,570 | #16 | 27 | #1,446 |
| 1950 | 16,202 | #17 | 27 | #1,419 |
| 1949 | 15,132 | #21 | 23 | #1,572 |
| 1948 | 14,281 | #22 | 28 | #1,395 |
| 1947 | 12,398 | #28 | 28 | #1,416 |
| 1946 | 9,367 | #34 | 25 | #1,429 |
| 1945 | 6,169 | #42 | 14 | #1,909 |
| 1944 | 6,204 | #44 | 23 | #1,427 |
| 1943 | 4,839 | #54 | 21 | #1,565 |
| 1942 | 2,632 | #106 | 9 | #2,665 |
| 1941 | 1,468 | #155 | 7 | #3,069 |
| 1940 | 631 | #251 | — | — |
| 1939 | 337 | #348 | — | — |
| 1938 | 314 | #369 | — | — |
| 1937 | 264 | #399 | — | — |
| 1936 | 220 | #434 | — | — |
| 1935 | 194 | #459 | — | — |
| 1934 | 147 | #535 | — | — |
| 1933 | 108 | #632 | — | — |
| 1932 | 96 | #693 | — | — |
| 1931 | 99 | #672 | — | — |
| 1930 | 94 | #725 | — | — |
| 1929 | 110 | #669 | — | — |
| 1928 | 100 | #709 | — | — |
| 1927 | 67 | #916 | — | — |
| 1926 | 76 | #852 | — | — |
| 1925 | 75 | #864 | — | — |
| 1924 | 51 | #1,105 | — | — |
| 1923 | 50 | #1,083 | — | — |
| 1922 | 38 | #1,280 | — | — |
| 1921 | 33 | #1,430 | — | — |
| 1920 | 27 | #1,618 | — | — |
| 1919 | 22 | #1,793 | — | — |
| 1918 | 18 | #2,086 | — | — |
| 1917 | 17 | #2,079 | — | — |
| 1916 | 12 | #2,618 | — | — |
| 1915 | 22 | #1,608 | — | — |
| 1914 | 13 | #1,989 | — | — |
| 1913 | 16 | #1,513 | — | — |
| 1912 | 17 | #1,337 | — | — |
| 1911 | 8 | #1,920 | — | — |
| 1910 | 5 | #2,704 | — | — |
| 1906 | 6 | #1,903 | — | — |
| 1904 | 5 | #2,108 | — | — |
| 1898 | 6 | #1,652 | — | — |
| 1895 | 5 | #1,761 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).