Paula
Masculine · “Small”
Paula is given to girls far more often — 280,856 girls against 913 boys since 1880. See Paula as a girl name
Paula is the feminine of a Roman name that means small, and it has been carried by women whose work was anything but. It is one of the oldest continuously used women's names in Europe and one of the plainest.
How old is the name Paula?
Paula first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Paula alive today was born around 1966, making them about 59 years old. About 700 people named Paula are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Paula most popular?
Paula peaked in 1958, reaching #1511 nationally. See the whole 1958 chart.
Where it comes from
From Paulus to Paula
The story of Paula
The woman who established the name was a Roman aristocrat with one of the great fortunes of the late empire. Paula met Jerome in Rome, followed him to Bethlehem, and spent her money and the rest of her life building monasteries, a hospice for pilgrims and the household in which he worked — she learned Hebrew herself and argued with him about the text. The Latin Bible that shaped Europe for a thousand years was produced in a establishment she paid for and ran. He wrote her obituary and said as much. The name of the man she followed is itself a small joke against grandeur: Paulus means small, and its most famous bearer called himself the least of the apostles.
Meaning
Small
Paulus was a Roman family name meaning small or modest, of the same kind as names meaning curly or lame — Romans were unsentimental about this. The feminine has been in use since antiquity without a break, and the meaning is not in dispute.
How the name formed
- Paulus
- Paula
Related forms: Paula · Paula · Paola · Paule · Paula
Pronouncing Paula
PAW-luh
Two syllables, stress at the front. Spanish and Italian speakers give the first vowel a rounder sound, closer to POW-lah.
Nicknames for Paula
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1917
- Most boys named
- 195827 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1511reached in 1958
- Change vs 2020
- +20.0%6 in 2023, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Paula in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Paula in Spanish — same name
- Paula in German — same name
- Paola in Italian — same name
- Paule in French — same name
- Paula in Portuguese — same name
Paulas among us
people named Paula are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Paula sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is spelled identically in most European languages, which very few names manage.
- The meaning is settled, short and free of any claim about the child.
- It has been in continuous use for nearly two thousand years without ever becoming a cliché.
- It is closely associated with one American generation, though it never disappeared.
- Paola, Pauline and Paulette are all nearby and will be offered as corrections.
- The spelling is recorded for boys as well, though it belongs overwhelmingly to the girls.
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What they receive
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Paula
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Paulas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Paula are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Paula in 2025?
- Paula is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Paula with classmates?
- Paula will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Paul#262 · Patrick#235 · Peter#187 · Philip#527 · Phillip#651 · Parker#102 · Preston#299 · Pedro#455
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Paula? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Paula and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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