Saul

What Saul means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Saul yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Down from #494 in 2015 to #557 in 2025 in the US Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Saul?

US: Falling: down from #494 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #646 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2001, when 1,103 boys got the name (#278 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 3,193 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 9,377 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,964 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 NM (1.23 per 1,000 boys), AZ (0.98 per 1,000 boys), CA (0.67 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Saul is #557 in the US and #1035 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 Saul 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

• Sol184 US · 49 E&W
• Zael134 US · 5 E&W
• Soul59 US · 13 E&W
• Sael53 US
• Xael22 US
• Sal13 US

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 Saul

Boys

• Samuel#18“God has set or God has placed”^*
• Nathaniel#140“God has given”^*
• Nathanael#632“God has given”^*
• Nathan#63“gave”^*
• Caleb#58possibly “dog”^*
• Toby#977Form of Tobias, meaning “my good is YHWH”^*

For a sister

• Mikayla#746Form of Michael, meaning “who is like God?”^*
• Makayla#566Form of Michael, meaning “who is like God?”^*
• Abby#731Diminutive of Abigail, meaning “my Father's joy”^*
• Gabriela#317Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2003, with 3,362 babies; 961 in 2025
• Hanna#511“grace, gracious, graced with child”^*
• Anna#107Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #44 in 2015, #107 in 2025

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