Popularity of the name Pamela, 1895–2025
Pamela was at its most popular in 1954, when 27,361 girls were given the name: about 1 in 71 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #12. In 2025, 82 girls were named Pamela, ranking #2,239. In all, Social Security counts 595,076 girls named Pamela since 1895. Social Security’s records also list 1,386 boys named Pamela.
- Peak year
- 1954
- Rank in 1954
- #12
- Babies in 1954
- 27,361
- Rank in 2025
- #2,239
- Total since 1895
- 595,076
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has slipped from #1,399 in 2015 to #2,239 in 2025, with 167 girls named Pamela in 2015 and 82 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Pamela ranked highest in the 1950s, at #13, with 237,398 girls given the name that decade. It ranked #2,155 in the 1890s and #1,954 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 27 in 1920 (#1,584), 631 in 1940 (#251), 22,092 in 1960 (#14), 3,533 in 1980 (#86), 607 in 2000 (#457) and 123 in 2020 (#1,668).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 27,361, in 1954. Its best rank in any year was #10, first reached in 1953.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1895 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Pamela, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1895 | 5 | #1,592 |
| 1898 | 6 | #1,502 |
| 1904 | 5 | #1,877 |
| 1906 | 6 | #1,727 |
| 1910 | 5 | #2,398 |
| 1911 | 8 | #1,792 |
| 1912 | 17 | #1,297 |
| 1913 | 16 | #1,465 |
| 1914 | 13 | #1,896 |
| 1915 | 22 | #1,571 |
| 1916 | 12 | #2,498 |
| 1917 | 17 | #1,996 |
| 1918 | 18 | #2,029 |
| 1919 | 22 | #1,745 |
| 1920 | 27 | #1,584 |
| 1921 | 33 | #1,409 |
| 1922 | 38 | #1,269 |
| 1923 | 50 | #1,076 |
| 1924 | 51 | #1,096 |
| 1925 | 75 | #861 |
| 1926 | 76 | #843 |
| 1927 | 67 | #911 |
| 1928 | 100 | #703 |
| 1929 | 110 | #666 |
| 1930 | 94 | #717 |
| 1931 | 99 | #667 |
| 1932 | 96 | #692 |
| 1933 | 108 | #629 |
| 1934 | 147 | #535 |
| 1935 | 194 | #458 |
| 1936 | 220 | #434 |
| 1937 | 264 | #399 |
| 1938 | 314 | #369 |
| 1939 | 337 | #347 |
| 1940 | 631 | #251 |
| 1941 | 1,468 | #155 |
| 1942 | 2,632 | #106 |
| 1943 | 4,839 | #54 |
| 1944 | 6,204 | #44 |
| 1945 | 6,169 | #42 |
| 1946 | 9,367 | #34 |
| 1947 | 12,398 | #28 |
| 1948 | 14,281 | #22 |
| 1949 | 15,132 | #21 |
| 1950 | 16,202 | #17 |
| 1951 | 18,570 | #16 |
| 1952 | 20,879 | #17 |
| 1953 | 25,760 | #10 |
| 1954 | 27,361 | #12 |
| 1955 | 26,690 | #12 |
| 1956 | 26,928 | #12 |
| 1957 | 25,015 | #12 |
| 1958 | 25,279 | #11 |
| 1959 | 24,714 | #12 |
| 1960 | 22,092 | #14 |
| 1961 | 21,691 | #15 |
| 1962 | 21,270 | #13 |
| 1963 | 20,593 | #14 |
| 1964 | 19,823 | #11 |
| 1965 | 17,467 | #12 |
| 1966 | 16,249 | #15 |
| 1967 | 15,368 | #17 |
| 1968 | 14,031 | #20 |
| 1969 | 13,355 | #24 |
| 1970 | 12,907 | #26 |
| 1971 | 10,149 | #28 |
| 1972 | 7,472 | #34 |
| 1973 | 5,813 | #47 |
| 1974 | 5,272 | #54 |
| 1975 | 4,177 | #70 |
| 1976 | 3,364 | #84 |
| 1977 | 2,830 | #102 |
| 1978 | 2,690 | #109 |
| 1979 | 3,365 | #90 |
| 1980 | 3,533 | #86 |
| 1981 | 3,881 | #76 |
| 1982 | 3,546 | #82 |
| 1983 | 3,029 | #91 |
| 1984 | 2,642 | #104 |
| 1985 | 2,468 | #116 |
| 1986 | 2,016 | #138 |
| 1987 | 1,784 | #153 |
| 1988 | 1,510 | #184 |
| 1989 | 1,331 | #199 |
| 1990 | 1,194 | #238 |
| 1991 | 1,085 | #259 |
| 1992 | 920 | #301 |
| 1993 | 806 | #324 |
| 1994 | 748 | #352 |
| 1995 | 687 | #385 |
| 1996 | 814 | #341 |
| 1997 | 770 | #359 |
| 1998 | 714 | #388 |
| 1999 | 655 | #421 |
| 2000 | 607 | #457 |
| 2001 | 578 | #483 |
| 2002 | 530 | #517 |
| 2003 | 673 | #446 |
| 2004 | 540 | #527 |
| 2005 | 457 | #618 |
| 2006 | 568 | #532 |
| 2007 | 516 | #582 |
| 2008 | 455 | #671 |
| 2009 | 331 | #842 |
| 2010 | 258 | #983 |
| 2011 | 266 | #961 |
| 2012 | 215 | #1,148 |
| 2013 | 205 | #1,171 |
| 2014 | 185 | #1,289 |
| 2015 | 167 | #1,399 |
| 2016 | 184 | #1,300 |
| 2017 | 155 | #1,451 |
| 2018 | 136 | #1,585 |
| 2019 | 146 | #1,495 |
| 2020 | 123 | #1,668 |
| 2021 | 112 | #1,801 |
| 2022 | 95 | #2,034 |
| 2023 | 102 | #1,934 |
| 2024 | 88 | #2,150 |
| 2025 | 82 | #2,239 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.