Angela

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Girl · Greek, through Latin

Angela

Say it: AN-juh-luh

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From Greek angelos 'messenger, angel', through Latin.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Used in Italy since the Middle Ages and very popular in the US in the 1960s and 70s.

Its wave through time

A fashion of the 1970s

In the United States

0510152018801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1975per 1,000 babies of that sex
  • 669,590 babies given this name since 1880
  • At its height in 1975, about 1 in 62 girls
  • 1,182 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
  2. The Renaissance1400 to 1600
  3. Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
  4. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

ItalianSpanishGermanEnglishAmericanGreek

The family of the name

Other spellings: Angie, Angelia

GreekAngeliki
ItalianAngela
SpanishÁngela
FrenchAngèle
GermanAngela
PolishAniela
GermanAngelika

Famous bearers

  • Angela Merici, Italian saint
  • Angela Merkel, German chancellor

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • Calendars of saints and name days
  • Medieval and Renaissance Italian records, such as the Florentine tax survey of 1427
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.