NameYears

Names/P

Paul

boys’ nameSteadyCompare

Paul is ranked 264th among boys in 2024 (1,320 births). Its best rank was 12th, in 1916, 1930–1931.

Rank in 2024
#264down 8 from 2023
Births in 2024
1,3200.08% of boys
Peak year
195727,012 births
Best rank
#12first in 1916
Since 1880
1,402,786people given the name
Babies named Paul, by year of birthboys
012.5k25k37.5k50k18801900192019401960198020002020

The story in the numbers

1,396,943 boys have been named Paul in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1957, with 27,012 births — 1.3% of all boys recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 201 → 264).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1956, and the 1950s alone account for 18%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 121 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 5,843 girls have also been given it, 0.42% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)
#1#250#500#750#100018801900192019401960198020002020

By decade

Decadeboys named Paul
1880s4,196
1890s8,181
1900s12,636
1910s78,216
1920s132,384
1930s125,771
1940s183,356
1950s253,191
1960s242,503
1970s136,404
1980s104,397
1990s58,932
2000s30,959
2010s19,023
2020s6,794

In 1957, its biggest year

Paul was the 18th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1957 were Michael, James, David, Robert and John. See all of 1957.

Names that rose and fell with Paul

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.