It is named from the former Angel Inn which stood on the corner of Islington High Street and Pentonville Road.

The southern part of Liverpool Road and the western side of Islington High Street, including the Angel Inn were in the parish of Clerkenwell.

There is a traditional story that a pauper died in Islington and had to be taken to Clerkenwell for burial, which caused the land to be forfeited.

As they became populated suburbs of the city this was reflected in the addition of Clerkenwell in 1604 and Islington in 1636 to the bills of mortality weekly statistical returns.

In 1855, the area became part of the district of the Metropolitan Board of Works and the parish vestries were incorporated as local authorities.

Angel is located 2 miles (3.2 km) north-northeast of Charing Cross on the Inner Ring Road at the northern edge of Central London.

[5] North of Angel is Islington, west is Pentonville, south is Clerkenwell and east is St Luke's.

Angel tube station gives the locality a direct link northbound to Euston and Camden Town towards Edgware and High Barnet.

The route is numbered the A501 and links the area directly to King's Cross and Euston eastbound, and Old Street, Shoreditch and Aldgate to the southeast.

Other key routes include St John Street (A401) to Finsbury and Holborn, and Essex Road (A104) towards Canonbury, Dalston and Harringay (via A105).

A monitoring station for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) on City Road recorded an annual average NO2 level of 48 μg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metres) in 2017.