Pamela

Where Pamela comes from

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.
— Wiktionary's entry for Pamela
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1895
    First appearance
    #1,592 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1953
    Peak, #10
    25,760 babies named Pamela — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1961
    Pamela Melroy born
    American astronaut
  4. 1967
    Pamela Anderson born
    Canadian actress and model
  5. 1971
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #28.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name originating as a coinage.
Namesakes
  • Pamela Anderson · Canadian actress and model, born 1967
  • Pamela Melroy · American astronaut, born 1961
  • Pamela Adlon · American actress, born 1966
  • Pamela Jelimo · Kenyan middle distance runner, born 1989
  • Pamela Colman Smith · British occultist, artist and illustrator, 1878–1951

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.