How common is the name Paul?

907,225 people in the United States have the first name Paul, about 1 in 333. It ranks #31 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

PAUL

#31

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
907,225
About
1 in 333
This common or more
16%
Who bears it

Of the 907,225 people named Paul, 82.3% reported their origin as White, 6.5% as Hispanic or Latino and 5.5% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Paul peaked in 1957, when 27,076 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1957
Births that year
27,076
In 2025*
1,316 ▼95%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 1,404,135 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Paul by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1960s, when it ranked #23. The largest share of babies named Paul, 33.5%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#1194,213
1890s#928,238
1900s#8012,729
1910s#2878,626
1920s#25133,237
1930s#24126,405
1940s#28183,902
1950s#28253,817
1960s#23243,419
1970s#42137,205
1980s#71105,105
1990s#12059,077
2000s#24131,007
2010s#37819,030
2020s#4868,125
Before 19011%
Greatest Generation 1901–2714.1%
Silent Generation 1928–4517.7%
Baby boom 1946–6433.5%
Generation X 1965–8018.8%
Millennials 1981–969.9%
Generation Z 1997–123.6%
2013 and later1.5%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Paul is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Paul has been most common in Massachusetts (2.3×), Rhode Island (2×), and Vermont (1.7×), and least common in Georgia (0.53×).

1,374,855 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Paul

#29 Barbara · 943,006#30 Joshua · 939,718#32 Jason · 898,652#33 Karen · 882,576

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Paul, most common first.

#210 Paula · 256,421#2,310 Paulo · 11,111#17,668 Pal · 619#20,524 Paule · 503#29,411 Pauli · 301#30,958 Pauly · 279#42,623 Paull · 168#52,605 Payl · 106

Also a last name

As a last name, Paul ranks #396 of 156,621, with 80,097 people. See Paul as a last name

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