Pamla

Meaning & origin

Pamla is a rare variant of Pamela, a name invented by the English poet Sir Philip Sidney in the 1590s. While Pamela became a top-100 name in the United States in the 1950s, Pamla never reached the same heights. Records show its first use in 1941, and it peaked in 1953, the same year Pamela reached its own peak popularity. Since then, Pamla has seen very few births annually, with usage staying stable at extremely low levels. It was most common in the 1950s but has not appeared heavily in any particular state. Pamla offers a shorter, less common alternative to Pamela, though it remains a rarity.

Pamla is a variant spelling of Pamela, a name coined by the English poet Sir Philip Sidney in his 16th-century prose romance "Arcadia." Sidney likely based it on the Greek prefix "pan-" meaning "all," combined with "mel" (honey), giving the sense of "all honey" or "all sweetness." The spelling Pamla emerged as a simplified form in the early 20th century, occasionally used in the United States. It saw modest usage from the 1940s through the 1960s but never achieved the popularity of the original Pamela.