Paulino
Masculine · “little one”
Paul means small, and Paulino means a little small one. The Roman cognomen Paulus was a plain physical description, and the apostle adopted it in place of Saul; Paulinus adds a diminutive on top of a word that was already one.
How old is the name Paulino?
Paulino first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Paulino alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 1,400 people named Paulino are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Paulino most popular?
Paulino peaked in 1928, reaching #1522 nationally. Today it ranks #6803, 5,281 places below that high. See the whole 1928 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Paulus to Paulino
The story of Paulino
Roman cognomina were often blunt: Paulus was small, Rufus was red-haired, Crassus was fat, Cicero had a wart. The apostle Paul's use of the name is unremarkable in that context; Roman citizens routinely had both a local and a Roman name and used whichever suited the setting. Paulinus was a common late Roman name, borne by Paulinus of Nola, a fourth-century bishop and poet, and by the Roman missionary who became the first bishop of York. Spanish and Portuguese kept Paulino in steady use, and it reached United States records with Mexican, Puerto Rican and Filipino families; its best year is 1928.
Meaning
little one, from a Roman name meaning small
Latin Paulus, small or humble, a Roman cognomen. Paulinus is its diminutive, and the Spanish and Portuguese Paulino descends from that. The apostle is Saul in the Hebrew-speaking parts of Acts and Paul in the Greek and Roman ones; the change is generally read as a Roman citizen using his Roman name rather than as a conversion event.
How the name formed
- Paulus
- Paulinus
- Paulino
Related forms: Paulino · Paulino · Paolino · Paulin
Pronouncing Paulino
pow-LEE-noh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The au is a single diphthong in Spanish, as in English how, not the aw of English Paul.
Nicknames for Paulino
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
- 1914
- Most boys named
- 200336 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1522reached in 1928
- Change vs 2023
- −20.0%12 in 2025, from 15
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.
Paulino in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Paulino in Spanish — same name
- Paulino in Portuguese — same name
- Paolino in Italian — same name
- Paulin in French — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Paulinos among us
people named Paulino are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 142,340 born in 2025 was named Paulino
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Quitman test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Paulino's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Quitman climbed just as high around 1912, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Quitman's path sketches the road Paulino is walking now.
Paulino 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.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Paulino beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Paulino in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Latin meaning and one of the most consequential names in Christianity.
- Paul and Lino are both complete names available inside it.
- Recognized across Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Latin America.
- Three syllables will be shortened in American use.
- The meaning is small, which not every family expects.
- It reads as an older generation's name across the Spanish-speaking world.
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What they receive
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Paulino
Masculine · #6803 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Paulinos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Paulino are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Paulino in 2025?
- Paulino ranks #6803 among US boy names in 2025, with 12 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Paulino?
- About 1 in every 142,340 US boys born in 2025 was named Paulino — 12 in all.
- Will my child share the name Paulino with classmates?
- Paulino will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Paulino
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Zeb#6803 · Buster#6803 · Fabien#6803 · Eston#6803 · Tyjuan#6803 · Fuad#6803 · Aaiden#6803 · Sanford#6803
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Paulino? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Paulino and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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