Paul

Where Paul comes from

From Latin Paulus, from paulus (“small”). Doublet of Pablo and Paolo.
— Wiktionary's entry for Paul
  • Latin
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1839
    Paul Cézanne born
    French painter
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #60 among boys — 301 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1930
    Peak, #12
    12,955 babies named Paul — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1942
    Paul McCartney born
    English musician and member of the Beatles
  5. 1994
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #64.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Latin of biblical origin.
Namesakes
  • Paul McCartney · English musician and member of the Beatles, born 1942
  • Paul Cézanne · French painter, 1839–1906
  • Paul Gauguin · French painter and printmaker, 1848–1903
  • Paul Dirac · British theoretical physicist, 1902–1984
  • Paul Verlaine · French poet, 1844–1896

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.