Angela

“Messenger, angel” — Greek via Latin origin

Girl's name · #408 in the US (2025) · Retro

Angela's best rank, #5, came in 1974; it has stepped well back to #408 today. Roughly 673,000 girls have been named Angela since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records. Angela's short forms are Angie and Ange.

Around the world: #69 in Spain (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 40 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Angelas

Angela Merkel — chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021 (born 1954)
Angela Davis — American political activist, scholar, and author (born 1944)
Angela Lansbury — British-American-Irish actress and singer (1925–2022)
Angela Bassett — American actress (born 1958)
Angela Carter — English novelist (1940–1992)

In stories & tradition

Angela (Wendy Darling) — Peter Pan · Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up
Angela — Earth-616
Angela Petrelli — Heroes · Heroes Reborn

What Angelas become

Among 3,007 notable people named Angela:

Medical professionals appear 1.52× more often than among typical names — e.g. Angela Vincent, British neurosurgeon.

Similar names: Angel · Melissa · Andrea · Paula · Amy · Rebecca

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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