Meaning, Origin And History Of The Name Paul

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Paul NamePopularityRelated NamesRelatedRatingsCommentsNamesakesName Days 76%RatingSave Gender Masculine Usage English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Romanian, Biblical Pronounced Pron. /ˈpɔːl/(English) /pɔl/(French) /ˈpaʊ̯l/(German) /ˈpɑu̯l/(Dutch) /ˈpa͜ʊl/(Swedish) /ˈpa.ul/(Romanian) [key·simplify]

Meaning & History

From the Roman family name Paulus, which meant "small" or "humble" in Latin. Paul was an important leader of the early Christian church. According to Acts in the New Testament, he was a Jewish Roman citizen who converted to Christianity after the resurrected Jesus appeared to him. After this he travelled the eastern Mediterranean as a missionary. His original Hebrew name was Saul. Many of the epistles in the New Testament were authored by him.Due to the renown of Saint Paul the name became common among early Christians. It was borne by a number of other early saints and six popes. In England it was relatively rare during the Middle Ages, but became more frequent beginning in the 17th century. In the United States it was in the top 20 names for boys from 1900 to 1968, while in the United Kingdom it was very popular from the 1950s to the 80s. It has also been heavily used in Germany and France and continues to be popular there, though it is currently on the decline in the English-speaking world.A notable bearer was the American Revolutionary War figure Paul Revere (1735-1818), who warned of the advance of the British army. Famous bearers in the art world include the French impressionists Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) and Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), and the Swiss expressionist Paul Klee (1879-1940). It is borne by actor Paul Newman (1925-2008) and the musicians Paul Simon (1941-) and Paul McCartney (1942-). This is also the name of the legendary American lumberjack Paul Bunyan and the fictional Paul Atreides from Frank Herbert's novel Dune (1965).

Related Names

Family Tree·Details VariantsPål(Swedish) Pål(Norwegian) Poul(Danish) DiminutivesPaulie(English) Palle(Danish) Paavo(Estonian) Other Languages & CulturesPal, Pali, Pavli(Albanian) Paulus(Ancient Roman) Boulos, Bulus(Arabic) Boghos, Poghos(Armenian) Pavel, Paviel, Paval(Belarusian) Paulos(Biblical Greek) Paulus(Biblical Latin) Paol(Breton) Pavel(Bulgarian) Pau, Pol(Catalan) Paulu(Corsican) Pavao, Pavle, Pavo(Croatian) Pavel(Czech) Paŭlo, Paĉjo(Esperanto) Páll(Faroese) Pauli, Paavali, Paavo(Finnish) Pauwel(Flemish) Paulo(Galician) Pavle(Georgian) Pavlos(Greek) Pál(Hungarian) Páll(Icelandic) Pól(Irish) Paolo(Italian) Pauls, Pāvels, Pāvils(Latvian) Paulius, Povilas(Lithuanian) Pavle, Pavel(Macedonian) Pawlu(Maltese) Paora(Maori) Pau(Occitan) Paweł(Polish) Paulo, Paulinho(Portuguese) Pavel, Pasha(Russian) Pàulu(Sardinian) Pàl, Pòl(Scottish Gaelic) Pavle(Serbian) Pavol(Slovak) Pavel(Slovene) Pablo(Spanish) Pavlo, Pasha(Ukrainian) Surname DescendantsPaulsen(Danish) Paul, Paulis, Paulissen, Pauwels(Dutch) Paul, Paulson(English) Paul(French) Paul, Pohl(German) Paulsen(Norwegian) User SubmissionsPàul, Päul, Pauł

Popularity

US Animations·Details Last ranked #86 in 1998 Australia (NSW) Last ranked #2 in 2024 Austria Last ranked #15 in 2024 Basque Country, Spain Last ranked #172 in 2024 Belgium Last ranked #91 in 1999 Canada Last ranked #191 in 2000 Czechia Last ranked #586 in 2024 England & Wales Last ranked #23 in 2024 France Last ranked #8 in 2024 Germany Last ranked #97 in 2011 Ireland Last ranked #485 in 2010 Netherlands Last ranked #85 in 1998 New Zealand Last ranked #94 in 2013 Northern Ireland Last ranked #99 in 1974 Norway Last ranked #174 in 2006 Poland Last ranked #86 in 2023 Quebec, Canada Last ranked #41 in 2009 Romania Last ranked #98 in 2009 Scotland Last ranked #286 in 2010 Spain (by decade) Last ranked #70 in 2024 Switzerland Last ranked #975 in 1969 (f) #263 in 2024 (m) United States

People think this name is

Rate·Details classic mature formal natural wholesome strong refined simple serious

Name Days

Name Days? Austria: February 6Austria: June 29Austria: October 19Croatia: June 18Denmark: January 10Estonia: January 25Finland: January 25France: June 29Germany: June 29Norway: January 25Romania: June 3Sweden: January 25

Images

Saint Paul by El Greco (1614)Saint Paul by El Greco (1614)

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