← Back to Victorian and Belle Époque
Girl · English (literary)
Pam
Say it: PAM
Meaning
A short form of Pamela, a name invented by Sir Philip Sidney for his Arcadia (1590s), perhaps from Greek pan 'all' + meli 'honey'.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Occasionally registered as a full name in the US in the 1950s and 1960s.
Its wave through time
A fashion of the 1950s
In the United States
- 33,149 babies given this name since 1915
- At its height in 1959, about 1 in 550 girls
- Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Well-known works of literature
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- 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.