Girls' name · peaked in 1954
Pamela name popularity since 1925
596,091 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Pamela. Half of them were born in 1959 or earlier, so the typical Pamela is about 67 years old in 2026. Pamela peaked in 1954 as the #12 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 596,091
- Named Pamela, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,251 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.8% girls
- 594,705 girls · 1,386 boys
- Most popular in
- District of Columbia
- 1.63× its national share
Peak year is the year Pamela made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Pamela births per year, 1925–2025
1954 was the biggest year for Pamela both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1939 and 1944, Pamela became 15× more common, from 1 in 3,250 baby girls to 1 in 214.
- Steepest fall: Between 1972 and 1977, its share of baby girls fell by 62%, from 1 in 204 to 1 in 542.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Pamela's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Pamela.
Decade by decade
Babies named Pamela in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 428 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 1,873 | 0 | #459 |
| 1940s | 73,121 | 178 | #42 |
| 1950s | 237,398 | 377 | #12 |
| 1960s | 181,939 | 462 | #12 |
| 1970s | 58,039 | 228 | #70 |
| 1980s | 25,740 | 101 | #116 |
| 1990s | 8,393 | 35 | #385 |
| 2000s | 5,255 | 5 | #620 |
| 2010s | 1,917 | 0 | #1,402 |
| 2020–25 | 602 | 0 | #2,251 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
66.2% of babies named Pamela from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Pamela is most popular
The index compares Pamela's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Pamela.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 1.63× | 4,499 |
| Maine | 1.52× | 3,888 |
| West Virginia | 1.50× | 7,922 |
| Vermont | 1.43× | 1,430 |
| Indiana | 1.41× | 19,954 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Pamela and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Pamela (this page) | 594,705 | 1954 |
| Pamala | 7,357 | 1954 |
| Pamella | 3,166 | 1954 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Pamela's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Pamela.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Pamela (1954).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data