Angela
Angela was the 408th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 765 babies. Its best year was 1974, when it ranked 5th; the most babies were born in 1971 (25,901). Over the last ten years it has moved down 188 places. More babies were named Angela in the 1970s than in any other decade.
Meaning angel, messenger · Greek, Latin
Say it AN-juh-luh /ˈændʒələ/
- Rank in 2025
- #408 girls, down 157 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 765girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 197125,901 babies
- Total since 1880
- 675,392babies recorded
What does the name Angela mean?
Angela is the feminine of Latin angelus, "angel", from Greek angelos, "messenger". DMNES records it in Italy from 1387 and in England from 1552, along with forms like Angelica and Angelina. Saint Angela Merici, a 16th-century Italian, founded the Ursuline order of nuns. The masculine forms are Angel and, in Italian, Angelo.
ἄγγελος (Ancient Greek, “messenger, angel”)angelus (Latin, “angel”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Angel, Angelina, Angie, Angelica.
See also: Greek names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Angela', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (ed. S. L. Uckelman), Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Angela', DMNES, Durham University
Nicknames for Angela
The usual nicknames for Angela are Angie. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Angela in the last five years, 37 were named Angie, against 23 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angie · also for Angelina, Angelica, Angeline | Traditional | #705 | 2,085 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Angelas go by each one.
Angela popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 2,135 since 1918.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #408 | 765 |
| 2020 | #251 | 1,190 |
| 2010 | #160 | 1,917 |
| 2000 | #79 | 3,828 |
| 1990 | #52 | 6,666 |
| 1980 | #12 | 17,969 |
| 1970 | #6 | 24,929 |
| 1960 | #50 | 8,683 |
| 1950 | #148 | 2,057 |
| 1940 | #234 | 726 |
| 1930 | #244 | 639 |
| 1920 | #255 | 665 |
| 1910 | #239 | 260 |
| 1900 | #327 | 107 |
| 1890 | #373 | 45 |
| 1880 | #683 | 7 |
How popular is Angela, counting every spelling?
Angela is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #422 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #408 for Angela on its own. Together these spellings went to 776 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angela | 765 | #408 | 5,707 |
| Angella | 11 | #8,917 | 41 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Angela?
765 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Angela (0.21 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Angela born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 11 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Angela.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Angela?
About 603,400 people born in the US named Angela are alive today, with a median age of 51; half are between 43 and 58. That makes Angela mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Angela by state
How common Angela was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Nevada (2.3×), Texas (2.0×), Arizona (1.9×), California (1.9×), New Mexico (1.8×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Ohio, Michigan, Utah.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Angela: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Angela, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Angela · Sibling names for Angela
Questions about the name Angela
What does Angela mean?
Angela means “angel, messenger” (Greek, Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Angela?
Angela was the 408th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 765 babies. Its best year was 1974, when it ranked 5th; the most babies were born in 1971 (25,901). Over the last ten years it has moved down 188 places. More babies were named Angela in the 1970s than in any other decade.
Is Angela a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Angela in the US.
Where is Angela most popular?
In 2021–2025, Angela was most common in Nevada (1.59 per 1,000 girls), followed by Texas and Arizona.