Origin: |
Pamela is a name which was coined in pastoral poetry in the late 16th century -- a literary movement which coined many names (Anthea, Clorinda, Miranda, Celia, Samela) in an attempt to emulate classical Greek and Roman poetry. Pamela appears first in Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia (1590) which centres around Basilius, the Duke of Arcadia, his wife Gynecia and their beautiful daughters Pamela and Philoclea. The names used in this works are all reworkings of, or inspired by, legitimate names from ancient Greece. Though Pamela itself was not in use by the Greeks, similar names such as Pamillos*, and Pamphilos, Pamphila (pan "all" + philos "love"), Pamphoros (pan "all" + phoros "bearing") were in use. It is generally thought that Sidney intended the name to mean 'all-sweetness,' from pan "all" + meli "honey" but that is purely conjecture. In Sidney's Arcadia, the name Pamela was accented as Pamēla, giving the pronunciation pə-MEE-lə. |
Usage: |
Arcadia had some impact in introducing Pamela as a genuine given name. A handful of baptisms for Pamela can be found across the country in the 17th century, but overall it was rare. That changed dramatically with the publication of Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740), which told the story of Pamela Andrews, a young innocent maid in a wealthy household whose employer attempts to seduce her. Pamela's virtue holds out, and in the end her employer proposes an equitable marriage.
The impact of the novel on nomenclature is also marked, as many baptisms for Pamelas suddenly appear in parish records after 1740 as part of the "Pamela frenzy" which swept the nation. It appears that during the 18th century, there was some debate over the pronunciation, as some were still using Sidney's pronunciation of Pamēla (pə-MEE-lə), while Richardson adopted and inspired the pronunciation Paměla (pə-MEL-ə). In Henry Fielding's novel Joseph Andrews (1842) -- written during the Pamela-phenomenon as a direct response and parody of Richardson's work -- it says:
In one of the footnotes of The Life of Samuel Johnson (1787) by Sir John Hawkins he writes:
It is unclear how far into the 19th century these pronunciations continued, but by the 20th century the name became predominantly pronounced PAM-ə-lə with the stress on the first syllable. During the 19th century, the Pamela craze had died down a bit. The turning point for the name came at the beginning of the 20th century, as births per decade in England and Wales show: 1840s: 526 births By 1924, Pamela had entered the top 100 at #60. It rose to #20 in 1934, and #17 in 1944. It dipped a little to #21 in 1954 and then further, to #67, in 1964, after which it fell out of the top 100. In 1996 and 1997, Pamela was just within the top 1000 in England and Wales with 24 babies registered in each year. After that point it fell below the top 1000, and after 2008 fell below the top 2000. In 2014, Pamela ranked #2862 (8 births) in England and Wales. In Scotland, Pamela ranked #1584 (1 birth) in 2015. The name did not rank in Northern Ireland. |
Famous Bearers: |
History: * Lady Edward FitzGerald (c.1773–1831), wife radical revolutionary Lord Edward Fitzgerald. Known as "Pamela." Contemporary: * Lady Pamela Hicks (b. 1929), British aristocrat and member of the royal family. Literature and Other Media: * Pamela Andrews, heroine of Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740–41) |
Variants: |
Pamelia, Pamila |
Pronunciation: |
PAM-ə-lə [key] pə-MEE-lə (17th century); pə-MEL-ə (18th century) |
Possible diminutives: |
Pam, Pammy, Melly, Melia, Polly |
Sibling Names: |
Cynthia Gillian Kathleen Rosemary Joanna Roberta |
Name Lists: |
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Thanks to Arabella for requesting this post.