Paula

Primarily a girl's name · 100% girls

Meaning

Paula is a common female given name. It is used in German, English, Estonian, Finnish, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Romanian, Hungarian, Polish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Croatian and Greek languages. In Greek it is Polina.

From Wikipedia

Paula first appears in the data in 1952 and has been recorded in 20 different years as a girl's name. Its single biggest year was 1971 with 255 babies (rank #57 that year). It was not in the 2025 data.

Numerology of Paula

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Paula yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

6Destiny numberThe carerNurturing, responsible, family at the centre.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
5Soul urgeThe free spiritCurious, restless, energised by change.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
1PersonalityThe leaderIndependent, pioneering, drawn to going first.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

2,939

Total babies (all years)

Years in the data

255

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Girls

Famous people named Paula

Paula Abdulvideo game actor · b. 1962
Paula Fernandesrecording artist · b. 1984
Paula Modersohn-Beckerdraftsperson · b. 1876
Paula Pattonfilm actor · b. 1975
Paula-Mae Weekesjurist · b. 1958

More popular girls' names

Other girls' names starting with P

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all girls' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1952	76	#92
1953	67	#100
1954	70	#100
1955	72	#96
1963	180	#68
1964	160	#68
1965	163	#71
1966	155	#73
1967	155	#74
1968	216	#61
1969	198	#69
1970	191	#71
1971	255	#57
1972	199	#66
1973	191	#64
1974	179	#67
1975	168	#67
1976	143	#76
1978	60	#103
1979	41	#107