Paul () is a common Latin masculine given name in countries and ethnicities with a Christian heritage (Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism) and, beyond Europe, in Christian religious communities throughout the world. Paul – or its variations – can be a given name or surname.
Origin and diffusion
The name has existed since Roman times. It derives from the Roman family name Paulus or Paullus, from the Latin adjective meaning "small", "humble", "least" or "little" . During the Classical Age it was used to distinguish the minor of two people of the same family bearing the same name. The Roman patrician family of the Gens Aemilia included such prominent persons as Lucius Aemilius Paullus, Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus, Tertia Aemilia Paulla (the wife of Scipio Africanus), and Sergius Paulus.
Its prevalence in nations with a Christian heritage is primarily due to its attachment to Saint Paul the Apostle, whose Greek name was Παῦλος, Paûlos, a transliteration from the Latin, also carrying the "modest" meaning of this name, and chosen because of its similarity to his Jewish name Šaul. The name Paul is common, with variations, in all European languages.
Paul's popularity has varied. In the United States, the 1990 census shows it ranked the 13th most common (male) name; however, Social Security Administration data shows popularity in the top 20 until 1968, with steadily declining use until its 2015 rank of 200th.
The feminine versions are Paula, Pauline, Paulina, and Paulette.
Translations
Albanian: Pal
Amharic: ጳውሎስ (P'awlos) Latin: Paulus, Paulinus (Bulus, in the Bible) Aragonese: Pavlo Armenian Old: Պաւղոս (Pawłos) Armenian Western: Պօղոս (Boġos) Armenian Eastern: Պողոս (Poġos) Assamese: Pabloo Asturian: Pablu Basque: Paulo Belarusian: Павeл (Pavel), Паўлюк (Paŭluk), Паўлюсь (Paŭluś), Пол (Pol) Bengali: পল (Pol) Biblical Greek: Paulos or Pavlos Biblical Latin: Paulus Bosnian: Pavao, Pavão, Pavle Breton: Paol Bulgarian: Павел (Pavel) Catalan: Pau, Pol Chinese: 保羅, 保罗 (Bǎoluó), 保祿 (Bǎolù) Coptic: ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ (Paulos), ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲉ (Paule), ⲡⲁⲩ (Pau) Cornish: Pawl Corsican: Paulu Croatian: Pavao, Pavle, Pavo Czech: Pavel Danish: Poul, Povl, Palle Dutch: Paul, Paulus, Pauwel Esperanto: Paŭlo, Paĉjo Estonian: Paul, Paavel, Paavo Faroese: Páll, Pál, Palli, Pól, Pauli Fijian: Paula Finnish: Paavali, Paavo, Pauli French: Paul, Pol, Paulin Frisian: Pouw, Powles, Paulus Galician: Paulo Georgian: პავლე (Pavle) German: Paul Greek: Παύλος (Pávlos, Páv̱los) Gujarati: પોલ (Pōl) Haitian Creole: Pòl Hakka: Pó-lò Hausa: Bulus Hawaiian: Paulo Hebrew: (Paulus – only used in Biblical context)), (Pol) Hindi: पौलुस (pəulus , पौल (pɔl) Hungarian: Pál (Nicknames: Pali, Palika, Paja, Pajus, Pajó, Palcsi, Palcsika, Pálka, Palkó, Pálocska) Icelandic: Páll Indonesian: Paulus Irish: Pól, Pódhl Italian: Paolo, Paolino Japanese: (Pōru), and in Biblical context, (Pauro) Kannada: ಪಾಲ್ (Pāl) Karelian: Puavil, Puavila Korean: 파울로스 (Paulloseu) or 폴 (Pol) Catholic: 바오로 (Baoro) Eastern Orthodox: 바울로 (Baullo) Protestant: 바울 (Baul), 바우로 (Baulo, Anglican) Latin: Paulus Latvian: Pauls, Pāvils Lithuanian: Paulas, Paulius, Povilas Luganda: Paolo Malayalam: പൗലോസ് (Paulose) Macedonian: (Pavle, Pavel) Maltese: Pawl, Pawlu Manx: Payl Māori: Paora Marathi: पौलुस (pəulus – only used in Biblical context), पॉल (pɔl), पाव्लो (paʋlo), पाब्लो (pablo) Mongolian: Павел (Pavel), Паул Na'vi: Pawl Nepali: पावलले (Pāvalalē) Norwegian: Paul, Pål Occitan: Pau Old English: Paulus Philippine languages: Pablo or Paulo Polish: Paweł Portuguese: Paulo, Paulino, Paulinho, Pavão (archaic) Punjabi: ਪੌਲੁਸਨੇ (Paulusanē) Romanian: Paul, Pavel Russian: (Pol), (Pavel), (Pasha) Sardinian: Paulu Scottish Gaelic: Pòl, Pàl Serbian: Павле (Pavle) Shona: Paurosi Sicilian: Pàulu, Paulu Sinhala: පාවුලු (Pawulu) Slovak: Pavol Slovene: Pavel Spanish: Pablo, Paulino Swedish: Paul, Pål Syriac: Pawlos, Pola ܦܵܘܠܘܿܣ, ܦܵܘܠܲܐ Tamil: பவுல் (Pavul) Telugu: పౌలు (Pāulu) Thai: พอล (Paul) Turkish: Pavlus, Pavlos Ukrainian: Павло (Pavlo)
Venetian: Pagolo, Polo
Vietnamese: Phao-lô
Welsh: Pawl
Notable examples
Mononym
Paul I (disambiguation) Paul II (disambiguation) Patriarch Paul (disambiguation) Pope Paul (disambiguation) Saint Paul (disambiguation) Paul, Latin Patriarch of Constantinople (died 1371)