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The first name 
Angel

Angel is a unisex first name, but it has been given primarily to boys for a number of years.

Angel is well-known and popular!

Angel is a very popular first name in the United States. It is currently ranked 77 in the SmartGenius ranking, and tens of thousands of babies are named Angel each year: around 0.20 % of all newborn babies.

You won't believe all there is 
to discover about the name
 
Angel

What does the name 
Angel mean?

The first name Angel is of Spanish origin and means ‘messenger of God’ or ‘angel’. It is derived from the Latin word ‘angelus’, which means ‘messenger’.

In some religions... such as Christianity or Islam, angels are depicted as messengers of God - in other religions and cultures, angels are also understood as spiritual beings who serve as intermediaries between the earthly and heavenly realms. Usually, angels are depicted as benign and holy, symbolizing peace, goodness and protection.

Angel has many well-known namesakes

A Rapper and Singer

Angel Haze (*1991)
The US-American, who dentifies not as a man or a woman but as an 'experience', is considered a promising hip hop talent and was awarded the BET Hip Hop Award in the category 'Best Female Hip Hop Artist' in 2013.

A writer and human rights activist

Angel Santiesteban-Prats (*1966)
The Cuban is known for his critical works that address issues such as corruption, human rights and political repression. As an activist, he has worked for freedom of expression and respect for human rights in Cuba. He has received several awards for his work and is an important voice in the Cuban cultural scene.

An argentine soccer player

Angel Di Maria (*1988)
He is known for his speed and technique and has played for the Argentine national team. While part of it, he participated in the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018.

A Fashion Designer

Angel Chen
The Chinese fashion designer and artist is making global impact with her fashion label, which is known for its eccentric take on Eastern and Western fusion fashion.

Go on a journey to places 
with your name

When you hear the name Angel, you might first think of people. But did you know that there are also places with the name Angel? Are you also called Angel? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...

An Island!

The largest island located in the San Francisco Bay Area in California is called Angel Island and was first settled by the indigenous peoples of the Bay Area thousands of years ago.

The world's highest...

waterfall are the 'Angel Falls' located in Venezuela. The falls are named after Jimmy Angel, an American aviator who landed his plane over the falls in the 1930s in search of gold.

A sculpture ...

is called 'Angel of the North' and was designed by artist Antony Gormley. It is located in Gateshead, UK, and its one of the largest works of art in Europe.

You can cheer...

for the Los Angeles Angels, a Major League Baseball team, at Angel Stadium. It is the third largest baseball stadium in California and also known as 'The Big A'.

Angel -
from zero to hero

#32 - this is the highest rank Angel has ever achieved. Not many names manage to reach such a high popularity in even one of the 140+ years of recording. The last time Angel reached this top spot was in 2007 when 13,670 newborns were given this name. But as our statistics show, Angel hasn't always been a popular name: in some years of record, most recently in the year 1906, not a single newborn baby or less than 5 were named Angel (a name is only included in the official statistics if it has been given at least 5 times in a year). Nevertheless, the name Angel has accompanied people in this country for a long time. It turns out that this name fits very well into our time today. From zero to hero - even though it took a while for Angel to really catch on, it has become a very popular name.

In years where the graph has no value, the name Angel was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.

At the peak in the 21st century

In 2022, 5,658 newborns were given the name Angel, making it rank #91. In the current century, the name is really taking off. So the chances of meeting a young Angel are higher than ever.

Angel has 5 letters 
and begins with an A

Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter A is the most popular first letter for given names. 10.3% of all common first names in the US start with this letter. The second most common initial letter in first names is J.

With five letters, the name Angel is comparatively short. In fact, 17.0% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly five letters. Only 7% of all first names are even shorter, while 75% have more than five letters. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.

That means that if 10.3% of all first names start with an A, this initial letter occurs nearly three times as often as all other letters on average.

Other names with 
A, n, g, e and l

If you take all the letters in the name Angel – A, n, g, e and l – and put them together again, you can form other names, such as Angle or others.

With hands, flags and sounds 
How to say Angel

If your name is Angel and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...

This is how you spell the name Angel

So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Angel, you can simply say:

Apple

Nut

Goat

Elephant

Lion

This is how the name Angel is spelled in the NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO alphabet often helps people spell words on the phone or radio when there are communication problems.

How do you write Angel in Braille?

Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.

Angel

Angel

You want to tell a deaf person that your name is Angel

Just use American Sign Language!

The name Angel is particularly colorful in the Semaphore flag signaling system!

These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.

A
N
G
E
L

Have you ever waved the name Angel

In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.

A
N
G
E
L

Beeping like crazy...

In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Angel sounds like this: