Saul
Masculine · “asked for”
Saul is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 43,288 boys against 74 girls since 1880.
Saul is one of the oldest names still in ordinary use — a single syllable that has passed from Hebrew scripture through Greek and Latin into English and Spanish without ever really changing shape. It is spelled the way it sounds, needs no nickname, and sits comfortably in a Spanish-speaking household as Saúl and an English-speaking one as Saul.
How old is the name Saul?
Saul was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Saul alive today was born around 1999, making them about 26 years old. About 36,000 people named Saul are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Saul most popular?
Saul peaked in 1997, reaching #270 nationally. Today it ranks #557, 287 places below that high. See the whole 1997 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Sha'ul to Saul
The story of Saul
The name is Hebrew, Sha'ul, and its most famous bearer in the Hebrew Bible is Saul, the first king of Israel. When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek, the name became Saoul, and from Greek into Latin it settled into the Saul that English still uses. In the New Testament it belongs to Saul of Tarsus, who is called Paul once his work among non-Jewish communities begins — one man, two names, which is why Saul and Paul have traveled side by side in Christian Europe for two thousand years. English-speaking use grew after the Reformation, when biblical names came into general circulation; the Spanish Saúl, carrying its accent and its stress on the second syllable, is the form that keeps the name well represented in Mexican and Mexican-American families today.
Meaning
asked for, prayed for
From Hebrew Sha'ul, the passive participle of the verb sha'al, "to ask" — literally "asked for" or "requested".
How the name formed
- Sha'ul
- SaoulGreek
- SaulLatin
- Saul / Saúl
Related forms: Saúl · Sha'ul · Saul · Saül · Saul · Szaweł
Pronouncing Saul
SAWL
One syllable in English, rhyming with "all". The Spanish Saúl is two syllables, sah-OOL, with the stress on the second — worth deciding early which one your family will use, since both are correct for their own language.
Nicknames for Saul
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 20051,113 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #270reached in 1997
- Change vs 2022
- −7.9%535 in 2025, from 581
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.
Saul in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Saúl in Spanish — spelling variant
- Sha'ul in Hebrew — transliteration
- Saul in Portuguese — same name
- Saül in French — spelling variant
- Saul in Italian — same name
- Szaweł in Polish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York.
Sauls among us
people named Saul are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 3,193 born in 2025 was named Saul
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 Daren test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Saul's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Daren climbed just as high around 1965, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Daren's path sketches the road Saul is walking now.
Saul 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
Where Saul is headed
Saul should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Saul beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Saul in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable, spelled exactly as it sounds in English — rarely misspelled once heard.
- Fully at home in both English and Spanish, which is part of why it is strongest in Texas, California and New York.
- A documented history stretching back to the Hebrew Bible, carried by both a king of Israel and Saul of Tarsus.
- Short enough to need no nickname, so the full name is what he will actually be called.
- Familiar to nearly everyone without being a name he is likely to share in a classroom.
- "Better Call Saul" gave the name a well-known fictional lawyer, and for a while that will be the first association many adults make. It fades as the show ages, but expect the joke at least once.
- The English SAWL and the Spanish sah-OOL are genuinely different pronunciations of the same name. In bilingual families that is a feature; in mixed settings it means gentle correcting.
- The biblical King Saul's story ends badly — he loses favor and his throne. Most people know the name long before they know the narrative, but it is there if anyone looks.
- There is no established English nickname, so there is no shorter option in reserve if he ever wants one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Saul to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Saul
Masculine · #557 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sauls are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 36,000 people named Saul are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Saul in 2025?
- Saul ranks #557 among US boy names in 2025, with 535 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Saul?
- About 1 in every 3,193 US boys born in 2025 was named Saul — 535 in all.
- Will my child share the name Saul with classmates?
- Saul will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Saul
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ariel#558 · Armando#556 · Morgan#559 · Chosen#555 · Porter#560 · Mohammad#561 · Deacon#561 · Drew#553
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Saul? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Saul and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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