Pauline
Masculine · “small”
Pauline is given to girls far more often — 226,404 girls against 775 boys since 1880. See Pauline as a girl name
Pauline is the French feminine of one of the most consequential names in European history, and it is recorded here for boys as well as girls. The man behind it wrote the oldest Christian documents there are, and a silent film serial later attached the name to a very different idea.
How old is the name Pauline?
Pauline first appears in US birth records in 1893 — 132 years ago. The typical Pauline alive today was born around 1929, making them about 96 years old. About 100 people named Pauline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pauline most popular?
Pauline peaked in 1905, reaching #836 nationally. See the whole 1905 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Paulus to Pauline
The story of Pauline
The letters of Paul were written a couple of decades after the crucifixion, which makes them older than any of the gospels, and they were written to be carried to a specific congregation and read out to it. That is why they argue with named people, answer questions we cannot see, and change tone halfway through: they are one side of a correspondence. A silent film serial two thousand years later gave the feminine form of the name to a heroine who ended every episode in immediate danger, and the phrase the perils of Pauline entered American English as shorthand for a serialized cliffhanger, which is roughly where most people's association with the name now sits.
Meaning
small
Paulus was a Roman family name meaning small, used as a cognomen, and the apostle took it alongside his Hebrew name. The reading is settled and the man himself seems to have found it useful.
How the name formed
- Paulus
- Paulina
- Pauline
Related forms: Pauline · Paulina · Paolina
Pronouncing Pauline
paw-LEEN
Two syllables with the weight on the second. PAW-leen, with the stress in front, is common in American speech.
Nicknames for Pauline
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
- 1893
- Most boys named
- 192835 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #836reached in 1905
- Change vs 1963
- +16.7%7 in 1964, from 6
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.
Pauline in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Pauline in French — same name
- Paulina in German — same name
- Paolina in Italian — same name
Paulines among us
people named Pauline 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
Pauline 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
- The meaning is settled and can be given in one word.
- It works in English, French, German and Spanish households with only a shift of stress.
- Polly and Lina are both available as short forms and both are established names.
- In America it reads as belonging to an older generation, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to girls but is recorded for boys as well, so a form will occasionally guess wrong.
- The meaning is small, which is a plain Roman fact and still takes some people aback.
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Pauline
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Paulines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Pauline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pauline in 2025?
- Pauline is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Pauline with classmates?
- Pauline 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 Pauline? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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