Paul

What Paul means

Means “small”

English Paolo Learned borrowing from Latin Paulus, from paulus (“small”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Paul” (revision 94542500), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Paul?

US: Falling: down from #199 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #286 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1964, when 26,874 boys got the name (#16 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,298 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 4,249 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,786 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AK (3.08 per 1,000 boys), NH (2.89 per 1,000 boys), DC (1.98 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Paul is #262 in the US and #602 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Paul were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Pol9 US · 5 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Paul

Boys

• Stephen#383“crown, wreath”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*
• Mark#244Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 58,727 babies; 1,416 in 2025
• Adam#101“earth, man, soil, light brown”^*
• Michael#21“who is like God?”^*
• Martin#335“of or like Mars”^*

For a sister

• Amanda#493“to love”^*
• Laura#379“laurel tree”^*
• Rebecca#349“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”^*
• Amy#257“beloved”^*
• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*
• Monica#736Editor’s note Down from #559 in 2015 to #736 in 2025 in the US

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Paul’s. Rank is US 2025.