Paul
- Pronunciation
- [Paul]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Small
- Origin
- Romanian
About the Name Paul
Paul descends through Late Latin Paulus from the Roman family name Paulus, traditionally derived from the Latin paulus meaning "small," "humble," or "of low height." The Paulii were one of the prominent patrician Roman families. The name's overwhelming Christian anchor is the apostle Saint Paul (born Saul of Tarsus, c. 5–c. 64 CE), the Pharisee-turned-Christian whose missionary journeys, theological letters (Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, etc.), and martyrdom in Rome made him one of the foundational figures of early Christianity.
Paul's letters constitute roughly half of the New Testament, and his theological positions on faith vs. works, the law, salvation, and Christ's resurrection became foundational to Western Christian theology. The name has been continuously used across European Christian-influenced naming traditions for nearly two thousand years. Notable later bearers include Brazilian-French Pope Paul VI (1963–1978, who oversaw the conclusion of Vatican II); American jazz pianist Paul Robeson; The Beatles' Paul McCartney (born 1942); and American actor Paul Newman (1925–2008).
Paul held a US top-25 boys' rank from 1880 through 1985 — over a century of consistent American popularity. The name has receded since but remains in steady use. The name's appeal is its compact biblical-classical pedigree combined with one short syllable, the in-built religious anchor, and tonal versatility across formal and casual registers. The name reads as both classical-formal and contemporary American. Common nicknames Paulie, Paula (feminine form), and the rare Pauly each carry distinct registers; the longer formal Paul rarely lengthens. International forms include Pablo (Spanish), Paolo (Italian), Paulo (Portuguese), Paul (French/German, identical), Pavel (Russian/Slavic), and the original Latin Paulus.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Paul
US Popularity History (1880–2025)
Annual US births named Paul by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1957 with 27,012 boys named Paul (boy rank #18 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #262 for boys (1,316 US births). That's 244 places below its 1957 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Paul Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Paul the strongest states are Alaska, Delaware, New Hampshire.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | #148 | 67 |
| 2 | Delaware | #177 | 41 |
| 3 | New Hampshire | #178 | 49 |
| 4 | Massachusetts | #180 | 356 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | #188 | 640 |
| 6 | District of Columbia | #190 | 47 |
| 7 | Rhode Island | #193 | 24 |
| 8 | Connecticut | #197 | 174 |
| 9 | Montana | #198 | 34 |
| 10 | North Dakota | #205 | 50 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Paul in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
Famous People Named Paul
12 notable figures from history and culture who share the name Paul.
- Paul Allen — Entrepreneur (1953)
- Paul Auster is an American author, screenwriter and film director.
- Paul Brown was a prominent American football coach.
- Paul Cezanne was an influential post-impressionist painter known for his radically intense style, bold colours and brushstrokes.
- Paul Dukas was a noted French classical music composer.
- Paul Farmer is an anthropologist and physician who co-founded the health organization - Partners In Health (PIH).
- Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post Impressionist painter known for his use of bold colours and synthetist style.
- Paul Harvey was a radio broadcaster best known for his ‘The Rest of the Story’ segment.
- Paul Hindemith is one of the most eminent German violists and composer of all times.
- Paul Kagame is the current President of Rawanda and is credited for putting an end to one of the history’s worst genocide.
- Paul Keating is a former Prime Minister of Australia who held office from 1991 to 1996.
- Paul Klee — Painter (1879)
Looking for names like Paul?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Paul to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Paul against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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