The name Angelia was most popular during the 1960s and ’70s, but it also saw a distinct spike in usage several decades later:
- 1992: 168 baby girls named Angelia
- 1991: 239 baby girls named Angelia [ranking: 841st]
- 1990: 484 baby girls named Angelia [ranking: 500th]
- 1989: 174 baby girls named Angelia [ranking: 990th]
- 1988: 94 baby girls named Angelia
What was the cause?
The rock ballad “Angelia” (pronounced ayn-jah-lee-ah) by Richard Marx. The song was released as a single in September of 1989 and reached #4 on Billboard‘s “Hot 100” chart in December.
How did Marx come to use the name “Angelia” in a song? Here’s how he explained it:
[T]he name came from a flight attendant. The extent of my relationship with the actual Angelia is that she served me a ginger ale on the plane. […] The band and I were on a flight down in Dallas or somewhere in the south going to a gig, and this girl was smiling as she was coming up the aisle with the beverage cart, and I thought, Oh, she’s got to be new, because she was smiling and happy. (laughs) Really pretty girl. And when she got to my aisle, I noticed her name tag was Angelia. Actually, I thought it was ANG-e-lia, and I commented how much I thought her name was beautiful. And she said, “I actually pronounce it Ange-LI-a.”
Marx was working on a song at that time, and the only thing the song was missing was a four-syllable girl name. Angelia’s name happened to fit perfectly.
I knew I wanted a girls’ name, because I’d never written a song with a girls’ name, and every rock singer has to have one, at least. I think it’s the law somewhere. And I didn’t want, you know, Ethel Feinberg to be the four syllables. Nothing against any Ethel Feinbergs out there, but I wanted it to be a beautiful name. So it came just in time, because I was really trying to get that song finished, and we took that flight, and there was this gorgeous name.
What are your thoughts on the name Angelia?
Sources: Angelia (song) – Wikipedia, Richard Marx: Songwriter Interviews – Songfacts, SSA