Angelica comes from the Latin angelicus and means "angelic" or "like an angel"; it is also the name of a sweet-scented herb. The name was popularized by the heroine of Italian Renaissance epics such as Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, and it is well established in Spanish- and Italian-speaking families. Angelica ranked number 138 in the United States in 2000, peaked at number 136 in 2001 and has slowly declined to number 708 in 2025.