Pamela

Meaning

The excerpts show Pamela as a literary feminine name, especially associated with Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia and Samuel Richardson’s heroine. One excerpt also places it near Greek-derived names, but no firm etymology is given there, so the meaning is best treated as uncertain rather than established. In practice, Pamela is understood more as a coined or literary name than as one with a clear traditional dictionary meaning.

Origin

Fun fact

By the 18th century, Pamela had become fashionable enough to be noted as a name that ‘took a certain hold’ in England.