girl's name
Angèle
on-ZHEL
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (France)
- Births on record 74,505
France
#279
2025 births
Angèle means angelic, and the Greek root behind it means a messenger — the wings and hierarchies of later Christianity all grew from an ordinary word for someone carrying news. It peaked in 1904, and holds 74,247 lifetime births.
- Angèle is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1904, when 2,060 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 3,023 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
Angèle over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 19,220 |
| 1910s | 13,050 |
| 1920s | 12,235 |
| 1930s | 7,020 |
| 1940s | 3,285 |
| 1950s | 2,610 |
| 1960s | 1,805 |
| 1970s | 885 |
| 1980s | 1,285 |
| 1990s | 2,160 |
| 2000s | 5,185 |
| 2010s | 2,755 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,200 |
What Angèle means
Angèle means angelic, or messenger. The Greek angelos is the everyday word for a person carrying a message, and the theological sense arrived through translation.
Where Angèle comes from
Angèle is the French form of Angela, from the Greek angelos — a messenger. Hebrew scripture used a word meaning messenger for divine emissaries; Greek translators rendered it angelos; and everything after that, from wings to choirs to hierarchies, grew from an occupational noun. The same root gives evangelist, a bringer of good news. Angela Merici founded the Ursulines in 1535, the first teaching order for women.
Angèle in use
Angèle peaked in France in 1904, when 2,060 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 279th in France on 200 births, across 74,505 lifetime births. A name peaking in 1904 and still ranking 279th in the same market more than a century later is an unusually long hold.
How popular is Angèle?
In 2025, Angèle was given to 195 babies in France, ranking #279 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Angèle is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Angèle is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Angele | Angele is a spelling of Angèle, used in Canada, where it ranks #2,545. | 2,270 |
| Angéle | Angéle is a rare spelling of Angèle, written with an acute accent and recorded about 5 times, mostly in France. | 5 |
Names that peaked alongside Angèle
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Angèle also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Angèle over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Angèle 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 Angèle
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Angèle — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Angèle
What does the name Angèle mean?
Angelic — from the Greek angelos, a messenger.
Did angels originally have wings?
Not in the word. Angelos meant a messenger, and the wings came from later art.
Is Angèle related to Angelique?
Yes — both are French forms built on the same Greek root.
How popular is Angèle?
279th in France, the only market where it charts.
Is Angèle a girl's or a boy's name?
Angèle is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
Is Angèle a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Angèle currently ranks #279 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.