Angelina was discovered on March 4, 1861, by a prolific comet discoverer, E. W. Tempel, observing from Marseilles, France.

It was chosen by Benjamin Valz, director of the Marseilles Observatory, in honour of the astronomical station of that name operated by Baron Franz Xaver von Zach on the mountains above the city.

At the time, asteroids were supposed to receive names from classical mythology, and several astronomers protested the choice.

Tempel noted that if the second 'n' were removed, the complaints would be satisfied (referring to Angelia, a minor Greek deity).

Traditional calculations had suggested that since Angelina has an absolute magnitude of 7.7 and an albedo of 0.15,[2] its diameter would have been around 100 km.