Head to head · Boys' names
Omar vs Paul
#260 vs #262 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Omar is a whisker ahead (#260 vs #262 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Omar and Paul each lead 2 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Omar #550, Paul #45 — Paul higher
- 1890s: Omar #571, Paul #24 — Paul higher
- 1900s: Omar #753, Paul #19 — Paul higher
- 1910s: Omar #655, Paul #14 — Paul higher
- 1920s: Omar #721, Paul #14 — Paul higher
- 1930s: Omar #889, Paul #14 — Paul higher
- 1940s: Omar #963, Paul #18 — Paul higher
- 1950s: Omar #850, Paul #17 — Paul higher
- 1960s: Omar #605, Paul #18 — Paul higher
- 1970s: Omar #245, Paul #28 — Paul higher
- 1980s: Omar #188, Paul #41 — Paul higher
- 1990s: Omar #146, Paul #69 — Paul higher
- 2000s: Omar #144, Paul #130 — Paul higher
- 2010s: Omar #214, Paul #206 — Paul higher
- 2020s: Omar #258, Paul #259 — Omar higher
Paul stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Omar took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Omar | Paul |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #550 | #45 |
| 1890s | #571 | #24 |
| 1900s | #753 | #19 |
| 1910s | #655 | #14 |
| 1920s | #721 | #14 |
| 1930s | #889 | #14 |
| 1940s | #963 | #18 |
| 1950s | #850 | #17 |
| 1960s | #605 | #18 |
| 1970s | #245 | #28 |
| 1980s | #188 | #41 |
| 1990s | #146 | #69 |
| 2000s | #144 | #130 |
| 2010s | #214 | #206 |
| 2020s | #258 | #259 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Omar
Not charting outside the US.
Paul
- France#23
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Omar
flourishing, long-lived
The Arabic name ʿUmar comes from the root ʿ-m-r, which carries ideas of life, long life, and thriving habitation. A separate and much rarer Omar appears in Genesis as a grandson of Esau; that Hebrew name's meaning has never been established, and it is not the source of the modern name.
ʿUmar (Arabic) → Umar → Omar
How it traveled
Omar is the English and Spanish spelling of the Arabic ʿUmar. Its standing in the Muslim world rests largely on ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph, who ruled in the seventh century — since then it has been among the most-given names from Morocco to Indonesia.
Paul
small; slight
Latin paulus means little or slight, and Paullus was a Roman family name — the Aemilii Paulli were among the more distinguished of them. The derivation is not disputed. Roman names of this kind describe an ancestor rather than a bearer and stop describing anyone within a generation, so the meaning is real and has not applied to anybody in two thousand years.
paulus → Paulus → Paul
How it traveled
The apostle is usually said to have changed his name from Saul to Paul on conversion, and the text does not say that. He was a Roman citizen from Tarsus and, like a great many Jews under Roman rule, he had two names from the start — a Hebrew one for his own community and a Latin one for the wider world.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Omar
OH-mar
The standard American pronunciation stresses the first syllable. In Arabic it is closer to OO-mar, with the stress falling differently and an opening consonant English does not have; Spanish speakers often say oh-MAR. All are correct in their own settings, and families usually pick one and let the other pass.
- O — An initial used informally among friends and teammates; not a name anyone is registered under.
- Omi — A family-level diminutive heard in some Arabic- and Spanish-speaking households; rarely used outside the home.
- Momo — A playful reshaping used within families and friend groups, more common among children than adults.
Paul
PAWL
PAWL, one syllable, rhyming with hall. French says the same single syllable with a rounder vowel. Spanish and Italian rebuild the name around their own sounds and give it two, PAH-blo and PAH-oh-lo, which are recognizably the same name and not obviously so.
- Pauly — The name softened, which belongs to childhood and to affection rather than to work.
- Paulie — The same with the other ending, and strongly associated with Italian-American use.
- Pablo — The Spanish form used as a nickname, which happens in bilingual households and occasionally outside them.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Omar if you want…
- a name with more sound in itOmar runs 2 syllables, Paul 1
- a name that feels very nowOmar is holding its place on the charts
Choose Paul if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesPaul is 1 syllable to Omar's 2
- a name that charts abroad tooPaul is on the national lists of France
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Omar
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Omar
Strengths
- Spelled the way it is said in English, with no silent letters and no fork in the road between two common spellings.
- Works unaltered in Arabic-, Spanish-, and English-speaking settings, which matters in households that live in more than one of them.
- On US records continuously across generations rather than arriving in a single wave, so it reads as neither dated nor new.
To consider
- There is no established short form. Omar is what he will be called at home, at school, and at work — fine for many families, but worth knowing if you like having a nickname in reserve.
- Because of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, the name carries strong Sunni associations and is given far less often in Shia families. If that distinction matters in your family, it is worth talking through early.
- Expect a lifetime of small pronunciation negotiations: OH-mar, oh-MAR, and the Arabic ʿUmar are all in circulation, and people will guess based on their own background.
Paul
Strengths
- One syllable, four letters, and understood instantly in every European language.
- It has been in continuous English use for many centuries without belonging to any one period.
- The meaning is plain and modest, which very few names of this weight manage.
To consider
- It is unmistakably Christian in origin and specifically apostolic, which for some families is the point and for others is a history they are not part of.
- A great many people already carry it, so a Paul will rarely be the only one in a workplace.
- A single syllable against a single-syllable surname lands abruptly, and the name gives nothing to soften it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Omar
40%chance Omar feels dated by 2040
Omar sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Paul
12%chance Paul feels dated by 2040
Paul has held the top-100 across 12 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Omar and Paul in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Omar and Paul?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Omar and Paul — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Omar or Paul — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Omar or Paul?
- Omar, in 2025: Omar ranked #260 with 1,333 babies; Paul ranked #262 with 1,316 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Omar or Paul?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Omar moved down 6 places; Paul moved down 10 places.
- Which is the older name, Omar or Paul?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Omar and Paul?
- About 101,000 people named Omar are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 836,000 people named Paul are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Omars or Pauls in the classroom?
- Omar will almost certainly be the only one in school. Paul will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Omar, Paul and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap