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I prefer Angela because I think Angelica is too frilly

Gosh, I love Angelica. Probably somewhere in my ten favorite girls' names. Angela is soft and lovely as well, but Angelica is great. There's the nickname Gellie, the Anjelica Huston connection...it's just a bit more fun.

Angela was a top 100 name here from the 1930s-80s, so it feels a little dated and there are a lot of elderly & middle-aged Angelas around. But I like it, & prefer it to Angelica, which seems a little too sweet to me - probably because in English it's got jelly in the middle.

Any angel name (OK, not Michael or Gabriel) is a lot to live up to. But Angela is neater, tidier, more energetic and less sentimental than either Angelica or Angelina, both of which are streets ahead of breathless, bosomy Angelique.

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The other problem with Angelica is of course the cake decoration. Looks very pretty - gorgeous colour - but tastes of boring sugar.

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I knew an Angela once who went by Jill. I liked that!

I really dislike them both but I do like the Greek Angeliki

I prefer Angela. I wouldn't say it's no-frills - it's frillier than Ann or Gillian, and it is appealingly feminine. But it's down-to-earth, too, like Joanna or Maria.

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I think it doesn't seem elaborate/pretty enough for current style, only because it has been popular in the past. If it hadn't been, it would seem that way - right alongside Emilia and Sofia. As it is, it feels more in the style of Nicola and Carola.

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Angelica has the exact sound of the word "angelic" in it, so it seems over-the-top to me. It's bordering on being like Heavenly or Miracle. Also the shape of the word makes me think of nouns like harmonica, antarctica, sciatica, erotica so it doesn't seem quite namey enough, it's straining to be a name. Angela doesn't sound like "angel" enough to have that problem, for me.

I grew up with so many Angelas that it feels tired and a little drab to me.

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I taught the sweetest Angelica last year, and she made me take a fresh look at the name. It really is beautiful.

I'd much rather be an Angela than an Angelica; Angelica is so full of itself, it's no wonder it was chosen for the mean kid in the Rugrats.
But Angela is just okay. It's nothing special.
If I had to have an Angel name I'd pick Angelina.