Meaning of the namePâmela
- Female
- English origin
- Pâ-me-la
Pâmela is a feminine name created in the late sixteenth century for Philip Sidney's pastoral work Arcadia; the Greek reading 'all sweetness' is only a hypothesis.
Meaning
The meaning of Pâmela is not known for certain. No reliable source documents it, so we give none; below are the origin of the spelling and the official figures.
- People (2022)
- 138,902
- Rank in Brazil
- #243
- Median age
- 25 years
- 2010 Census
- 138,571
- people
Pâmela in the 2022 Census
People with the first name Pâmela, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1990s (59,825 people).
138,310 women 592 men
Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.
Where the name Pâmela is most common
States with the highest share of people named Pâmela in the population, in the 2022 Census.
- Rio Grande do Sul 0.115%
- Santa Catarina 0.100%
- Rondônia 0.092%
- São Paulo 0.086%
- Rio de Janeiro 0.085%
All states
| State | People | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| São Paulo | 37,976 | 0.086% |
| Rio de Janeiro | 13,666 | 0.085% |
| Minas Gerais | 12,703 | 0.062% |
| Rio Grande do Sul | 12,492 | 0.115% |
| Paraná | 9,631 | 0.084% |
| Santa Catarina | 7,584 | 0.100% |
| Pará | 5,614 | 0.069% |
| Bahia | 5,071 | 0.036% |
| Pernambuco | 3,825 | 0.042% |
| Goiás | 3,484 | 0.049% |
| Ceará | 3,257 | 0.037% |
| Maranhão | 3,017 | 0.045% |
| Mato Grosso | 2,975 | 0.081% |
| Espírito Santo | 2,837 | 0.074% |
| Amazonas | 2,565 | 0.065% |
| Mato Grosso do Sul | 2,157 | 0.078% |
| Rondônia | 1,461 | 0.092% |
| Distrito Federal | 1,439 | 0.051% |
| Rio Grande do Norte | 1,336 | 0.041% |
| Paraíba | 1,334 | 0.034% |
| Piauí | 1,057 | 0.032% |
| Alagoas | 909 | 0.029% |
| Sergipe | 619 | 0.028% |
| Amapá | 541 | 0.074% |
| Tocantins | 515 | 0.034% |
| Acre | 490 | 0.059% |
| Roraima | 347 | 0.055% |
States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.
About the name Pâmela
Wiktionary and Behind the Name say the name was invented by Philip Sidney for the Arcadia (around 1593), apparently with no earlier model. Behind the Name says the author may have been thinking of 'all sweetness', from the Greek pan, 'all', and meli, 'honey', but Wiktionary stresses that there is no evidence of this intention, and the Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil (Dictionary of Names in Use in Brazil) also gives the Greek origin only as possible. According to Behind the Name, the name came into use after Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela (1740). In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 138,902 people named Pâmela, with a median age of 25. Proportionally, it is most common in Rio Grande do Sul.
The spelling with a circumflex and a single L is the most common in the group; Wiktionary records it as the Portuguese equivalent of the English Pamela, divided Pâ-me-la.
Other spellings of Pâmela
| Spelling | People (2022) |
|---|---|
| Pâmela | 138,902 |
| Pâmella | 7,907 |
Sources
- Wiktionary: Pamela · en.wiktionary.org · origin
- Behind the Name: Pamela · behindthename.com · origin
- Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Pamela · dicionariodenomesdobrasil.com.br · origin
- Wiktionary: Pâmela · en.wiktionary.org · spelling
Questions about the name Pâmela
What does the name Pâmela mean?
The meaning of Pâmela is not known for certain: no reliable source documents it. So we give no meaning; the page shows the origin of the spelling and the official figures.
How many people are named Pâmela in Brazil?
IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 138,902 people with the first name Pâmela, which ranks it number 243 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1990s.
Is Pâmela a boy's or a girl's name?
Pâmela is a female name: in the 2022 Census, 138,310 women and 592 men had this name.
What is the origin of the name Pâmela?
Pâmela is a name of English origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.
In which Brazilian state is Pâmela most common?
Proportionally, in Rio Grande do Sul: 0.115% of the state's population is named Pâmela (12,492 people), according to the 2022 Census.
What are the other spellings of Pâmela?
Pâmella. IBGE counts each spelling separately.
More names of English origin
See all- Jéssica♀Probably from the biblical name Iscah, perhaps 'he will see'450,167 people
- Daiane♀Form of Diane and Diana, 'divine'200,981 people
- Emily♀English form of Aemilia, a Roman name linked to Latin aemulus…140,315 people
- Lilian♀Probably a diminutive of Elizabeth, or an elaborated form of Lily,…107,581 people
- Joice♀'lord', via Breton Iodoc, a diminutive of iudh100,072 people
- Janete♀Portuguese form of Janet, a diminutive of Jane, which comes from…98,172 people
- Sheila♀Anglicized form of the Irish Síle, which goes back to Latin Caecilia…79,225 people
- Jenifer♀Cornish form of Gwenhwyfar, 'white phantom'76,540 people
Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Pâmela with a source. See the methodology.