Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Pamela?
Births per year, rank history and how many Pamelas are alive today.
Pamela (female), once a common girls' name, is now rarely given to new babies in England and Wales: just 10 in 2025, ranked 2605th. The name peaked in 1944, when around 3,700 babies were given the name, the 17th most popular that year. It has declined since 1944; the 2025 figure is roughly 1% of its peak. At least 100,000 babies have been named Pamela in England and Wales since 1924. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
The Pamela you are most likely to meet is around 79 years old. Half of all Pamelas born in England and Wales are between 68 and 83, and there are at least 74,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 21% chance that at least one of them will be called Pamela.
How many babies are named Pamela each year?
Where does Pamela rank among girls' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Pamela most popular?
Pamela peaked in 1944, when around 3,700 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Pamela?
At least 74,000 people named Pamela born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Pamela?
Most living Pamelas are between 68 and 83; the most common age is about 79.
Is Pamela becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1944 peak.