girl's name
Angela
AN-juh-luh
- Origin Greek
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 705,044
the United States
#408
2025 births
Angela is a girl's name from the Greek for messenger, the word that also gives us angel. It peaked in 1971 and now ranks 408th in the United States, charting in five of the seven markets we track.
- Angela is a name of Greek origin.
- Peaked in 1971, when 25,993 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,334 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Angela over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 232 |
| 1890s | 671 |
| 1900s | 1,400 |
| 1910s | 5,523 |
| 1920s | 6,341 |
| 1930s | 6,554 |
| 1940s | 12,293 |
| 1950s | 40,463 |
| 1960s | 159,698 |
| 1970s | 226,033 |
| 1980s | 117,078 |
| 1990s | 45,312 |
| 2000s | 31,403 |
| 2010s | 15,494 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,897 |
What Angela means
Angela means messenger, or angel. The Greek word named a human messenger first and acquired its supernatural sense only through biblical translation, so the everyday meaning is older than the heavenly one.
Where Angela comes from
Angela is the feminine of the Latin Angelus, from the Greek angelos — a messenger. The word was entirely ordinary in classical Greek, describing anyone carrying word from one person to another, and it took on its supernatural meaning when translators of the Hebrew scriptures used it for the divine messengers called mal'akh. The name spread through Italy, helped by Saint Angela Merici, who founded the Ursulines in 1535 as the first teaching order of women in the Catholic Church. English took it from Italian in the eighteenth century.
Angela in use
Angela peaked in the United States in 1971, when 25,993 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 408th in the United States on 765 births, 580th in France on 85, 670th in Ireland and 1256th in England and Wales, across 705,044 lifetime births in five of the seven markets we track.
How popular is Angela?
In 2025, Angela was given to 765 babies in the United States, ranking #408 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Angela is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Angela is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Angéla | Angéla is a rare spelling of Angela, written with an acute accent and recorded about 530 times, mostly in France. | 530 |
| Angèla | Angèla is a rare spelling of Angela, written with a grave accent and recorded about 15 times, mostly in France. | 15 |
Names that peaked alongside Angela
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Angela also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Angela over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Angela
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Angela in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Angela
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Angela — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Angela
What does the name Angela mean?
Messenger — the Greek angelos, which is also the source of the word angel.
Did angelos always mean angel?
No. It meant an ordinary human messenger, and gained its supernatural sense through biblical translation.
Is Angela an Italian name?
It spread through Italy and reached English from there, though the root is Greek.
How popular is Angela?
408th in the United States, down from a 1971 peak of 25,993 births.
Is Angela a girl's or a boy's name?
Angela is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Angela?
Angela has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Angela?
Angela is usually shortened to Angie and Ange.
Is Angela a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Angela currently ranks #408 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.