Holding steady.
Popularity of Permelia since 1880
Babies named Permelia per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1918, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Permelia's real moment was 1881.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 42 |
| 1890s | 76 |
| 1900s | 47 |
| 1910s | 102 |
| 1920s | 106 |
| 1930s | 80 |
| 1940s | 48 |
| 1950s | 44 |
| 1960s | 6 |
| 1970s | 0 |
| 1980s | 0 |
| 1990s | 0 |
| 2000s | 0 |
| 2010s | 0 |
| 2020s | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Permelia is a rare 19th-century elaboration, likely derived from Pamela, a name invented by Sir Philip Sidney in the 1590s. The name saw its peak usage in 1881, the year it was most frequently recorded, but never entered the top 1000 nationally. Its trajectory has been stable and extremely low since the 1880s, with no recorded births in recent decades. Given its obscurity, Permelia has no strong regional associations and does not appear in modern naming data. Parents today who choose Permelia are reviving a distinctive, antique name with a literary echo.
Permelia first appeared in the 19th century, most likely as an elaboration or variant of Pamela. Pamela itself was coined by the poet Sir Philip Sidney in the 16th century for his prose romance The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia. Permelia saw modest use in the United States during the 1880s, particularly in 1881, but has since become very rare.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Permy, Melia
Sibling names for Permelia
Names that share Permelia's style, for a brother or sister.
