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Pamela as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Pamela

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The baby name Pamela is a Female name , 3 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈpæmələ/ (PAM-ə-lə).

Gender: Female
Syllables: 3.0
Pronunciation: /ˈpæmələ/ (PAM-ə-lə)

What is the meaning of the name Pamela ?

The baby name Pamela is a Female name , 3 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈpæmələ/ (PAM-ə-lə).

Pamela is in Origin.

Pamela is an English literary coinage by Sir Philip Sidney (1580s) in Arcadia, probably built from Greek pan "all" + meli "honey," yielding the sense "all sweetness," "honeyed." Some scholars see it as invented without a strict etymology, but the Greek reading is traditional and widely accepted.

It remained little used until Samuel Richardson’s bestseller Pamela (1740) brought it into wider circulation in Britain and, later, America. The name enjoyed steady 19th-century presence and peaked across the English-speaking world in the mid-20th century, before falling from fashion after the 1980s. Common short forms are Pam and Pammie/Pammy. Variant spellings include Pamella and Pamelia; the standard form Pamela prevails in most languages, with localized adaptations such as Portuguese Pâmela and occasionally French Paméla. Cognates are rare because the name is not ancient; it functions as a modern English given name with classical flavor.

Pamela has the following similar or variant Names

Famous people with the name Pamela

Pamela Anderson Actor · Born 1967 · Canada Pamela Anderson is a Canadian-American actress, model, and media personality best known for Baywatch. She first became widely known after appearing on the cover of Playboy in October 1989 and being named Playmate of the Month in February 1990. Pamela Adlon Actor · Born 1966 · United States Pamela Adlon is an American actress, writer, and director best known for voicing Bobby Hill on King of the Hill, a role that earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. She is also known for Better Things and for her work in Californication. Pamela Reed Actor · Born 1949 · United States Pamela Reed is best known for playing Phoebe O'Hara, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s police partner in Kindergarten Cop. She’s also known for portraying Gail Green in the TV series Jericho.
Pamela Sue Martin Actor · Born 1953 · United States Pamela Sue Martin is an American actress best known for playing Nancy Drew in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries and Fallon Carrington on Dynasty. She won a Bambi Award for Dynasty in 1984, and later made a final on-screen appearance in the 2019 Nancy Drew reboot pilot as Harriet Grosset. Pamela Bellwood Actor · Born 1951 · United States Pamela Bellwood is an American actress best known for playing Claudia Blaisdel Carrington on the 1980s prime-time soap Dynasty. Born Pamela King on June 26, 1951, in New York City, she became widely recognized for that role. Pamela Gidley Actor · Born 1965 · United States Pamela Gidley was an American actress and model best known for her film work in the late 1980s and 1990s. She appeared in movies like Cherry 2000, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, and The Little Vampire after making her screen debut in Thrashin' in 1986.

Pamela – Popularity by country

Based on birth registration data from national statistics agencies.

Country Gender Year Rank Born of
Ireland Girls 2017 #1 — 949
HN 0 #17 6 704
SV Girls 0 #17 2 458
CL Girls 0 #26 15,523 14,098
HN Girls 0 #27 10 884
DJ Girls 0 #29 1 488
BI Girls 0 #30 4 726
NA 0 #31 3 2,537
EE 0 #37 1 1,051
ID 0 #37 3 2,238
CM 0 #38 18 2,592
MT 0 #39 5 1,767
CL 0 #41 1,631 6,867
MO 0 #45 8 2,706
CY 0 #54 7 1,632
BO Girls 0 #55 2,885 9,488
PR 0 #55 1 1,497
AL 0 #62 14 2,372
LU 0 #63 4 2,830
CR Girls 0 #69 1,424 11,342
JP 0 #73 5 4,057
PH 0 #74 23 5,607
AO 0 #76 2 2,729
CR 0 #77 84 5,526
BG 0 #79 4 1,799
ZA Girls 0 #79 5,814 25,928
BW Girls 0 #80 76 4,216
EC Girls 0 #80 221 3,650
PE Girls 0 #80 6,696 14,861
EC 0 #83 33 2,502
CN 0 #84 3 3,857
JM 0 #86 8 3,714
PE 0 #87 315 6,350
LT 0 #88 1 949
TW 0 #97 7 4,523
AR Girls 0 #98 1,916 8,289
CY Girls 0 #98 24 3,755
ID Girls 0 #101 2 3,319
QA 0 #101 6 7,011
OM 0 #102 15 6,215
AL Girls 0 #109 138 4,141
BN Girls 0 #110 5 5,459
MT Girls 0 #111 41 3,773
MU Girls 0 #111 328 8,539
HU 0 #115 1 1,675
PA 0 #116 15 3,797
KW 0 #119 3 5,216
CM Girls 0 #121 920 11,671
UY Girls 0 #122 1,026 6,731
BR Girls 0 #126 4,049 12,708
MU 0 #126 11 3,613
UY 0 #129 49 2,477
AR 0 #132 55 2,915
Switzerland Girls 2024 #134 2 1,786
GR 0 #134 2 3,911
BO 0 #135 330 6,868
RS Girls 0 #135 3 1,651
PR Girls 0 #138 24 3,171
EE Girls 0 #139 4 1,888
JO 0 #140 1 2,158
IT Girls 0 #143 18,700 9,415
GT Girls 0 #144 637 7,500
MX 0 #147 356 8,339
JM Girls 0 #152 119 7,507
BW Boys 0 #153 2 4,685
LU Girls 0 #155 31 4,850
AE 0 #156 22 10,220
NA Girls 0 #160 65 7,146
PH Girls 0 #162 268 13,098
BG Girls 0 #164 61 3,559
SG 0 #166 107 11,010
HR 0 #168 12 2,081
HU Boys 0 #174 1 3,954
SI Girls 0 #175 3 2,769
Sweden Girls 2022 #176 4 1,568
PR Boys 0 #177 2 2,508
BR 0 #178 185 5,969
PL Girls 0 #179 308 5,096
AO Girls 0 #183 27 4,575
Austria 0 #183 31 850
ZA 0 #184 280 14,421
CZ 0 #185 2 3,154
PL 0 #186 27 2,600
GH Girls 0 #190 160 6,973
MX Girls 0 #192 5,068 17,781
RU 0 #192 3 3,641
IT 0 #199 1,353 4,183
Belgium Girls 1997 #203 19 426
JP Girls 0 #203 43 6,592
DK 0 #205 2 5,198
GT 0 #206 111 5,948
NG 0 #207 58 5,926
GR Girls 0 #208 35 6,293
GH 0 #209 35 5,396
HU Girls 0 #209 15 3,308
SG Girls 0 #216 518 18,916
BG Boys 0 #218 3 3,850
PS 0 #219 8 5,692
Austria Girls 0 #221 245 1,885
TW Girls 0 #221 56 8,139
LB 0 #226 723 13,263
MO Girls 0 #227 25 7,056
IR 0 #231 1 4,221
PT 0 #233 14 4,161
BD 0 #241 1 5,992
EC Boys 0 #244 3 3,322
HR Girls 0 #249 41 3,687
NA Boys 0 #249 5 6,830
QA Girls 0 #251 66 15,378
NG Girls 0 #254 1,129 15,093
PA Girls 0 #256 259 9,861
HR Boys 0 #259 1 3,997
Finland 0 #274 34 830
IL 0 #274 9 6,291
Canada Girls 2024 #278 8 2,795
HK 0 #283 66 8,483
MY 0 #288 43 12,352
JM Boys 0 #289 5 6,876
CN Girls 0 #292 58 8,829
Finland Girls 0 #294 100 1,368
AL Boys 0 #298 6 5,122
DK Girls 0 #298 19 7,429
Spain Girls 0 #298 1,428 5,561
JP Boys 0 #303 1 7,909
CO Girls 0 #305 2,177 16,140
CZ Boys 0 #305 1 6,530
SA 0 #307 6 10,560
CZ Girls 0 #314 28 5,378
OM Girls 0 #319 78 15,987
KZ Girls 0 #330 3 5,862
JO Girls 0 #332 8 7,570
CO 0 #341 144 7,768
Spain 0 #341 112 2,326
Germany Girls 0 #349 751 4,949
SD Girls 0 #352 7 7,678
HK Girls 0 #353 302 16,104
NL 0 #356 36 2,481
GH Boys 0 #357 5 8,138
MU Boys 0 #368 2 8,477
PT Girls 0 #369 83 7,952
BD Girls 0 #374 13 8,413
Germany 0 #374 64 2,542
JO Boys 0 #389 1 7,057
KW Girls 0 #392 124 19,177
YE 0 #393 6 8,639
AE Girls 0 #401 153 20,968
France Girls 2021 #402 4 3,185
UY Boys 0 #406 8 5,922
EG 0 #408 5 6,387
PH Boys 0 #408 1 11,440
AR Boys 0 #425 43 7,628
NL Girls 0 #445 663 5,933
PS Girls 0 #473 51 10,981
CR Boys 0 #474 14 10,188
Finland Girls 2026 #475 364 3,895
RU Girls 0 #479 20 11,913
GT Boys 0 #491 9 7,625
IQ Girls 0 #495 10 11,303
IR Girls 0 #502 29 8,334
PA Boys 0 #504 2 9,305
BH 0 #518 36 17,937
CM Boys 0 #519 32 12,054
RU Boys 0 #523 4 12,621
HK Boys 0 #554 4 12,905
IL Girls 0 #554 64 11,648
CL Boys 0 #555 111 13,390
LY 0 #556 4 12,703
BO Boys 0 #567 26 9,244
IN Girls 0 #601 31 13,121
MY Girls 0 #632 385 24,821
SY 0 #675 54 11,684
IQ Boys 0 #694 4 13,071
BR Boys 0 #700 52 12,213
SG Boys 0 #735 5 17,960
QA Boys 0 #741 3 18,093
KW Boys 0 #756 14 18,755
SA Girls 0 #765 171 25,931
PE Boys 0 #792 87 14,506
TN 0 #800 30 13,765
United States Boys 2004 #828 5 7,246
United States Girls 2024 #829 88 8,487
CO Boys 0 #871 50 15,656
EG Girls 0 #911 49 14,742
Spain Boys 0 #911 20 5,610
OM Boys 0 #911 8 17,948
EG Boys 0 #918 8 15,035
MX Boys 0 #920 63 16,355
NG Boys 0 #940 12 16,906
ZA Boys 0 #1,029 150 25,619
IN Boys 0 #1,039 1 16,750
MA 0 #1,084 45 20,986
DZ 0 #1,129 48 20,130
AE Boys 0 #1,143 1 22,615
TR 0 #1,171 41 19,440
MY Boys 0 #1,179 4 25,439
IT Boys 0 #1,365 107 10,046
SA Boys 0 #1,602 13 28,008

Pamela is popular in 89 countries — most recent births per country:

France
Ireland
Canada
Scotland, United Kingdom
United States

Did we miss something about this name? Let us know!

People also ask about Pamela

Pamela is predominantly a girl's name.
Pamela is a 3 syllable name, pronounced /ˈpæmələ/ (PAM-ə-lə).
Common nicknames and spelling variations include Pam, Pammy, Pammie, Pamella, Pamelah and Pammela.
Across languages, Pamela has these equivalents: Pamela (used across English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German), Melissa (similar honey/bee theme), Melina (from Greek meli 'honey').
Yes, very popular — Pamela ranked #1 in Ireland in 2017, and appears in official birth registries across 9 countries.
Pamela ranks highest in Ireland (#1 in 2017).
Pamela's popularity is holding steady. It moved from #1 in 2007 to #1 in 2017 in Ireland.
Yes — 13 notable people named Pamela are in our database, including Pamela Anderson (Actor), Pamela Adlon (Actor), Pamela Reed (Actor).