Pamella
Feminine form of the Latin name Pamela, possibly meaning "all honey" or "entirely sweet".
Name Census estimates that about 2,230 living Americans carry the first name Pamella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pamella today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pamella births was 1954 (149 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pamella. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Pamella with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 153,701 Americans
Peak year
1954
149 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2015 SSA rank
#18,468
Tracked since 1928
Census
Pamella in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,995 people with the first name Pamella, which placed it at #5,648 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,648
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
2,995 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pamella
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pamella is White at 71.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.8%) and Hispanic (3.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Pamella described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Pamella at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.6% · 2,143
- Black or African American19.8% · 594
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 117
- Two or more races2.3% · 70
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 55
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 16
Popularity
Pamella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pamella from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,254 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pamella by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Pamella during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pamellas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. California, Ohio, Illinois recorded the most babies named Pamella, while Oregon, New Jersey, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 54 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Pamella
The name Pamella is a variant of the feminine given name Pamela, which has its origins in the ancient Greek language. It is derived from the Greek word "pamelos," meaning "all honey" or "sweetened entirely." The name was likely originally a descriptive epithet referring to the sweetness or charm of the person bearing it.
During the Middle Ages, the name Pamella was relatively rare, with few recorded instances. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Saint Pamella, a 3rd-century Christian martyr from Rome. According to legend, she was executed during the reign of Emperor Aurelian for refusing to renounce her faith.
The name gained broader popularity in the 16th century due to the publication of the pastoral romance novel "Arcadia" by Sir Philip Sidney in 1590. The novel featured a character named Pamela, which helped to introduce and popularize the name in English-speaking regions.
One of the most famous historical figures named Pamella was Pamella Colman Smith (1878-1951), an English artist, illustrator, and occultist. She is best known for her illustrations of the iconic Rider-Waite Tarot deck, which has become one of the most widely recognized and used tarot decks worldwide.
Another notable Pamella was Pamella Britton (1923-1974), an American actress who appeared in numerous films and television shows during the golden age of Hollywood. She is perhaps best remembered for her role as Lorelei Sanger in the popular sitcom "My Favorite Martian" from 1963 to 1966.
In the world of literature, Pamella Neville (1907-1997) was a British novelist and short story writer. She is known for her works exploring themes of love, relationships, and the complexities of human emotions, such as "The Infestation" and "The Mother's Arms."
Pamella Tiffin (1942-2023) was an American actress and model who rose to prominence in the 1960s. She starred in various films, including the classic "One Million Years B.C." (1966), where she portrayed the iconic character of Loana.
While the name Pamella has experienced periods of greater and lesser popularity over the centuries, it has maintained a consistent presence throughout history, embodying the ideals of sweetness, charm, and grace associated with its Greek roots.
People
Pamella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pamella as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pamella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pamella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,230 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pamella going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 153,701 US residents.
Is Pamella a common name?
We classify Pamella as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,166 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pamella most popular?
The single biggest year for Pamella was 1954, when 149 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pamella is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pamella in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,995 people with the name Pamella, or 0.99 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,648 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Pamella in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Pamella?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pamella appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,994 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Pamella?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pamella is White at 71.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.8%) and Hispanic (3.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Pamella most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Pamella in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.6% (2,143 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Pamella in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pamella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pamella in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Pamella still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pamella in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Pamella can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Pamella?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.