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 1880 and has been recorded in 145 different years as a girl's name. Its single biggest year was 1963 with 10,151 babies (rank #42 that year). In 2024 it was given to 374 girls (rank #753). Its popularity has been fairly steady recently.

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.

281,450

Total babies (all years)

145

Years in the data

10,151

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

Share your Paula story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

More popular girls' names

Names ranked near Paula in 2024

Other girls' names starting with P

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all girls' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1880	9	#621
1881	9	#616
1882	6	#880
1883	19	#447
1884	12	#634
1885	16	#554
1886	21	#489
1887	26	#444
1888	27	#483
1889	33	#427
1890	35	#433
1891	44	#383
1892	40	#425
1893	47	#393
1894	34	#491
1895	37	#485
1896	47	#421
1897	45	#438
1898	55	#418
1899	40	#463
1900	47	#497
1901	50	#426
1902	41	#499
1903	57	#424
1904	79	#371
1905	68	#411
1906	89	#355
1907	76	#408
1908	83	#403
1909	76	#424
1910	89	#419
1911	105	#394
1912	164	#358
1913	150	#398
1914	184	#390
1915	228	#399
1916	289	#361
1917	303	#360
1918	265	#401
1919	245	#415
1920	343	#354
1921	326	#373
1922	305	#374
1923	378	#337
1924	418	#329
1925	464	#308
1926	541	#286
1927	602	#271
1928	558	#276
1929	619	#254
1930	614	#252
1931	585	#250
1932	658	#239
1933	611	#245
1934	759	#228
1935	774	#222
1936	982	#185
1937	1,212	#165
1938	1,318	#163
1939	1,348	#159
1940	1,372	#155
1941	1,540	#151
1942	1,974	#136
1943	3,042	#93
1944	3,315	#82
1945	3,798	#67
1946	4,725	#69
1947	6,102	#54
1948	6,600	#52
1949	6,577	#55
1950	6,631	#54
1951	7,291	#51
1952	8,566	#47
1953	9,557	#40
1954	9,686	#38
1955	9,585	#39
1956	8,925	#47
1957	8,544	#49
1958	8,025	#53
1959	8,059	#51
1960	8,065	#55
1961	7,746	#60
1962	7,193	#60
1963	10,151	#42
1964	9,501	#45
1965	7,914	#49
1966	7,857	#50
1967	7,692	#46
1968	7,638	#45
1969	6,754	#50
1970	6,055	#57
1971	5,378	#63
1972	4,260	#72
1973	3,504	#87
1974	3,061	#96
1975	2,652	#108
1976	2,251	#121
1977	2,043	#144
1978	1,827	#150
1979	1,694	#165
1980	1,598	#173
1981	1,481	#186
1982	1,328	#205
1983	1,160	#220
1984	1,102	#230
1985	1,015	#250
1986	881	#279
1987	903	#272
1988	811	#305
1989	794	#321
1990	940	#297
1991	849	#320
1992	776	#338
1993	630	#400
1994	623	#402
1995	553	#458
1996	552	#455
1997	504	#490
1998	457	#546
1999	446	#564
2000	454	#574
2001	420	#600
2002	415	#617
2003	356	#720
2004	419	#655
2005	416	#670
2006	431	#669
2007	455	#652
2008	448	#679
2009	362	#782
2010	332	#815
2011	325	#819
2012	385	#724
2013	307	#848
2014	267	#995
2015	310	#891
2016	348	#825
2017	319	#858
2018	344	#794
2019	373	#753
2020	331	#824
2021	338	#822
2022	349	#806
2023	401	#707
2024	374	#753