Pamila
Feminine
Pamila writes three syllables where most American speakers say two. That is the opposite of what respellings usually do: the common move is to remove letters that nobody sounds, and this one adds one back.
How old is the name Pamila?
Pamila first appears in US birth records in 1941 — 84 years ago. The typical Pamila alive today was born around 1958, making them about 67 years old. About 600 people named Pamila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pamila most popular?
Pamila peaked in 1958, reaching #1703 nationally. See the whole 1958 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Pamila
English swallows unstressed middle syllables constantly. Every, family, camera, chocolate, comfortable and a long list of others are written with a syllable that most speakers do not produce, and the spelling preserves a pronunciation that stopped being current centuries ago. A respelling has two options in that situation. It can record the modern speech, dropping the letter nobody says, which is what most American respellings do. Or it can go the other way and make the vanished syllable visible again, which is what this one does, writing the vowel out plainly and inviting a reader to sound it. Both are honest. They are just pointing at different centuries.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name it respells was invented by a poet and its elements were never recorded, so even the standard spelling has no settled sense. This version is not documented either.
Pronouncing Pamila
PAM-ih-luh
Three syllables with the stress in front, though most speakers reduce it to two in ordinary speech.
Nicknames for Pamila
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1941
- Most girls named
- 195840 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1703reached in 1958
- Change vs 1982
- −16.7%5 in 1984, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Pamilas among us
people named Pamila are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Pamila sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Pam and Mila are both available as short forms and both stand alone.
- The sound is completely familiar, so it is never a puzzle to say.
- It is read correctly at first sight by nearly everybody.
- Pamela is the standard spelling and this one will be corrected to it constantly.
- The inserted letter is barely audible, so the spelling has to be given aloud often.
- No reason for it is documented, so there is nothing to say when someone asks why.
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What they receive
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Pamila
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Pamilas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Pamila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pamila in 2025?
- Pamila is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Pamila with classmates?
- Pamila will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Patricia#1334 · Pamela#2239 · Phyllis#11932 · Peggy#8362 · Paula#853 · Pauline#2957 · Pearl#776 · Paige#346
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Pamila? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Pamila and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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