How popular is the baby name Paula in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Paula.

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Popularity of the baby name Paula


Posts that mention the name Paula

Popular and unique baby names in Austria, 2024

Flag of Austria
Flag of Austria

Last year, the European country of Austria welcomed 77,238 babies — 37,463 girls and 39,775 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emilia and Elias.

Here are Austria’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Emilia, 534 baby girls
  2. Emma, 523
  3. Marie, 518
  4. Anna, 516
  5. Sophia, 488
  6. Mia, 462
  7. Lena, 433
  8. Valentina, 422
  9. Lea, 398
  10. Laura, 397
  11. Hannah, 395
  12. Lina, 390
  13. Sophie, 380
  14. Johanna, 370
  15. Leonie, 364
  16. Nora, 332
  17. Luisa, 328
  18. Olivia, 325
  19. Lara, 315
  20. Elena, 305
  21. Ella, 297
  22. Amelie, 278
  23. Mila, 257
  24. Antonia, 256
  25. Helena, 253
  26. Magdalena, 251
  27. Valerie, 239
  28. Lia, 228
  29. Hanna, 225
  30. Miriam, 218
  31. Livia, 211
  32. Elisa, 210
  33. Isabella, 209
  34. Sara, 201
  35. Theresa, 200
  36. Alina, 197
  37. Julia, 196
  38. Elina, 187 (tie)
  39. Paulina, 187 (tie)
  40. Ida, 183 (tie)
  41. Leni, 183 (tie)
  42. Paula, 182 (tie)
  43. Sofia, 182 (tie)
  44. Sarah, 180
  45. Klara, 174
  46. Rosa, 173
  47. Flora, 171
  48. Aurelia, 170 (3-way tie)
  49. Emily, 170 (3-way tie)
  50. Katharina, 170 (3-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Elias, 671 baby boys
  2. Paul, 659
  3. Noah, 621
  4. Jakob, 620
  5. Maximilian, 599
  6. Felix, 584
  7. Leon, 561
  8. David, 500
  9. Jonas, 499
  10. Leo, 489
  11. Lukas, 453
  12. Tobias, 430
  13. Valentin, 424
  14. Moritz, 422
  15. Matteo, 394
  16. Theo, 366
  17. Anton, 363
  18. Fabian, 351
  19. Alexander, 349
  20. Julian, 338
  21. Liam, 332
  22. Simon, 329
  23. Samuel, 321
  24. Emil, 316
  25. Luca, 304
  26. Matthias, 282
  27. Luis, 280
  28. Raphael, 272
  29. Adam, 260
  30. Florian, 259
  31. Johannes, 252
  32. Gabriel, 248 (tie)
  33. Lorenz, 248 (tie)
  34. Emilio, 247
  35. Theodor, 233
  36. Finn, 231
  37. Oskar, 224
  38. Niklas, 222
  39. Leopold, 214
  40. Oliver, 212
  41. Benjamin, 202 (tie)
  42. Jonathan, 202 (tie)
  43. Sebastian, 196
  44. Ben, 192 (tie)
  45. Fabio, 192 (tie)
  46. Michael, 190
  47. Mateo, 185
  48. Kilian, 181
  49. Luka, 180
  50. Josef, 174

According to Statistics Austria, “12.5% of all newborn girls and 14.6% of all newborn boys were given one of the 10 most popular first names” in 2024.

At the other end of the spectrum are the thousands of names that were given to a single baby each last year. Here’s a selection:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Aorta, Beppa, Chisimdi, Desdina, Ekklesia, Febronia, Gustava, Hibat, Ikonija, Jolongi, Krinka, Lhanzey, Mrittika, Notburga, Ofri, Pinia, Rimpy, Songül, Tsvetelina, Uerda, Vanadis, Wranga, Yangtso, ZorjanaAerzu, Benneth, Cvijetin, Daphnis, Encho, Flavio, Gervin, Hanrui, Ireneus, Jandost, Kalsang, Linneo, Menippos, Nikolozi, Osimhen, Peyami, Reie, Shkelzen, Takuto, Utku, Veton, Wenz, Yetkin, Zhihmond

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Aorta — the word for the largest artery in the human body — used as a personal name before.

Notburga was the name of a medieval Austrian saint, and Osimhen may have been inspired by Nigerian soccer player Victor Osimhen.

Finally, here’s a link to Austria’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare.

Sources: First names of newborns – Statistics Austria (in German), Emilia and Elias favourite baby names in 2024 – Statistics Austria (pdf), Atlas der Vornamen – Statistics Austria, Demographic characteristics of newborns – Statistics Austria

Image: Adapted from Flag of Austria (public domain)


Popular baby names in Spain, 2023

Flag of Spain
Flag of Spain

Two years ago, the country of Spain welcomed 320,656 babies — 156,039 (49%) girls and 164,617 (51%) boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Lucia and Hugo.

Here are Spain’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Lucia, 3,076 baby girls
  2. Sofia, 2,990
  3. Martina, 2,507
  4. Maria, 2,242
  5. Julia, 2,162
  6. Valeria, 2,047
  7. Olivia, 1,838
  8. Emma, 1,770
  9. Paula, 1,720
  10. Vega, 1,719
  11. Mia, 1,660
  12. Alma, 1,615 (tie)
  13. Carmen, 1,615 (tie)
  14. Daniela, 1,543
  15. Carla, 1,507
  16. Lara, 1,418
  17. Sara, 1,389
  18. Jimena, 1,362
  19. Lola, 1,355
  20. Gala, 1,339
  21. Noa, 1,298
  22. Alba, 1,283
  23. Claudia, 1,269
  24. Chloe, 1,221
  25. Valentina, 1,197
  26. Aitana, 1,037
  27. Alejandra, 1,005
  28. Manuela, 986
  29. Triana, 980
  30. Laia, 936
  31. Candela, 917
  32. Abril, 898
  33. Ana, 897 (tie)
  34. Zoe, 897 (tie)
  35. Ines, 880
  36. Victoria, 866
  37. Vera, 864
  38. Elena, 857
  39. Adriana, 828
  40. Blanca, 813
  41. Carlota, 746
  42. Nora, 727
  43. Marina, 723
  44. Rocio, 702
  45. Clara, 693
  46. Lia, 679
  47. Luna, 666
  48. Amira, 608
  49. Marta, 606
  50. Alicia, 583

Boy names

  1. Hugo, 3,126 baby boys
  2. Mateo, 3,100
  3. Martin, 2,917
  4. Leo, 2,542
  5. Lucas, 2,394
  6. Manuel, 2,339
  7. Pablo, 2,224
  8. Alejandro, 2,102
  9. Enzo, 2,062
  10. Daniel, 1,957
  11. Alvaro, 1,919
  12. Thiago, 1,560
  13. Adrian, 1,506
  14. Mario, 1,505
  15. Liam, 1,493
  16. Diego, 1,422
  17. Luca, 1,394
  18. Bruno, 1,367
  19. Oliver, 1,331
  20. Gonzalo, 1,278
  21. David, 1,243
  22. Alex, 1,223
  23. Marcos, 1,201
  24. Gael, 1,199
  25. Nicolas, 1,171
  26. Miguel, 1,162
  27. Izan, 1,158
  28. Marco, 1,148
  29. Antonio, 1,118
  30. Javier, 1,105
  31. Juan, 1,056
  32. Gabriel, 980
  33. Angel, 924
  34. Dylan, 911
  35. Carlos, 905
  36. Marc, 899
  37. Rodrigo, 868
  38. Jose, 866
  39. Dario, 860
  40. Adam, 818
  41. Samuel, 718
  42. Noah, 713
  43. Jaime, 703 (tie)
  44. Jorge, 703 (tie)
  45. Francisco, 657
  46. Santiago, 654
  47. Sergio, 647
  48. Guillermo, 630 (tie)
  49. Pau, 630 (tie)
    • Pau, the Catalan and Occitan form of Paul, is also a homophone of pau, the Catalan word for “peace.” This makes it similar to the Spanish name Paz, which comes from the Marian title Nuestra Señora de la Paz (transl. “Our Lady of Peace”).
  50. Eric, 616

In the girls’ top 10, Vega replaced Daniela.

In the boys’ top 10, Enzo replaced Alvaro.

A year earlier, in 2022, the top names in Spain were Lucia and Martin.

Sources: Apellidos y nombres más frecuentes – INEbase, Estadística de nacimientos – INEbase, Pau – Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Spain (public domain)

Popular baby names in Latvia, 2018-2022

Flag of Latvia
Flag of Latvia

From 2018 to 2022, the European country of Latvia — which shares land borders with Estonia and Lithuania (the other two Baltic states) as well as Russia and Belarus — welcomed more than 89,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofija and Olivers.

Here are Latvia’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names for the five-year period (2018-2022):

Girl names

  1. Sofija
  2. Emilija*
  3. Alise
  4. Anna
  5. Marta
  6. Amelija*
  7. Paula
  8. Emma
  9. Elizabete
  10. Darta* – the Latvian form of Dorothea
  11. Estere
  12. Elza
  13. Mia
  14. Viktorija
  15. Marija
  16. Katrina*
  17. Gabriela
  18. Keita – the Latvian form of Kate
  19. Melanija*
  20. Eva
  21. Alisa
  22. Evelina*
  23. Odrija – the Latvian form of Audrey
  24. Milana
  25. Nora
  26. Madara – the Latvian word for bedstraw (i.e., plants in the genus Galium)
  27. Patricija*
  28. Nikola
  29. Hanna
  30. Luize*
  31. Eliza*
  32. Maija
  33. Olivija*
  34. Laura
  35. Anastasija
  36. Amanda
  37. Kate
  38. Melisa
  39. Enija – the Latvian form of Annie
  40. Aleksandra
  41. Veronika
  42. Adelina*
  43. Sara*
  44. Karlina*
  45. Rebeka
  46. Šarlote – the Latvian form of Charlotte
  47. Arina
  48. Kira
  49. Adele
  50. Ieva – the Latvian word for bird cherry (Prunus padus)

Boy names

  1. Olivers
  2. Roberts
  3. Marks
  4. Gustavs
  5. Emils*
    • The usage of Emils rose steeply during the 1990s (and likely earlier) thanks to the 1985 TV movie Emila nedarbi, which was so popular (and aired so frequently) in Latvia “that many of the lines of the leading character Emils and his parents have become part of the national lexicon.” The program was based on the children’s novel Emil i Lönneberga by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren.
  6. Markuss
  7. Daniels
  8. Karlis*
  9. Adrians
  10. Jekabs*
  11. Aleksandrs
  12. Ernests
  13. Ralfs
  14. Dominiks
  15. Alekss
  16. Tomass
    • The rise of Tomass during the 2000s may be attributable to skeleton racer Tomass Dukurs, who began racing professionally in 1998.
  17. Arturs*
  18. Ricards (the “c” should have a caron)
  19. Toms
  20. Maksims
  21. Teodors
  22. Janis*
    • The pre-Christian name Janis, which was adopted as the Latvian equivalent of Johannes/John, “has been at or near the top of the list for popular names given to baby boys in Latvia for centuries.”
  23. Artjoms – the Latvian form of the Russian name Artyom
  24. Reinis
  25. Kristers – the Latvian form of the Swedish name Christer
  26. Lukass*
  27. Martins
    • The rise of Martins during the 2000s may be attributable to skeleton racer Martins Dukurs, who, like his older brother Tomass, began racing professionally in 1998. Martins was a silver medalist at both the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
  28. Gabriels
  29. Timurs – the Latvian form of the Russian name Timur
  30. Valters – the Latvian form of Walter
  31. Kristofers
  32. Everts
  33. Hugo
  34. Davids*
  35. Mihails
  36. Matvejs – the Latvian form of the Russian name Matvey
  37. Renars* – the Latvian form of the German name Reinhard
  38. Edvards
  39. Rudolfs*
  40. Oskars
  41. Henrijs
  42. Leo
  43. Rihards
  44. Rodrigo
  45. Pauls
  46. Kristaps – the Latvian form of Christopher
  47. Alberts
  48. Matiss* – the Latvian form of Matthew
  49. Patriks
  50. Daniils

The girl’s top 100 included Lauma (69th), the name of a woodland spirit in Latvian mythology.

The boys’ top 100 included Viesturs (94th), which is based on the Latvian word viesturis, meaning “hospitable.”

And two of the names that dropped out of the top 100 recently are Kristine* and Lasma*:

  • Kristine, the #1 girl name in Latvia throughout the 1980s, was originally popularized by the 1966 Soviet-Latvian film Purva bridejs, which featured a character named Kristine.
  • Lasma, a top-50 girl name from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, was influenced by the 1981 Soviet-Latvian film Limuzins Janu nakts krasa, which featured a character named Lasma.

During the previous five-year period, from 2013 to 2017, the top names in Latvia were Sofija and Roberts.

*Letters with macrons don’t render properly on my site, so please imagine they exist in the names marked with an asterisk.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Latvia (public domain)

Popular baby names in Liechtenstein, 2024

Flag of Liechtenstein
Flag of Liechtenstein

Last year, the tiny European country of Liechtenstein welcomed 341 babies — 166 girls and 175 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sophia for girls and Leon and Noah/Noa (tie) for boys.

Here are Liechtenstein’s top girl names and top boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Sophia, 5 baby girls
  2. Leyla and Livia, 4 each (tie)
  3. Alina, Chiara, Leonie, Lia, and Paula, 3 each (5-way tie)
  4. Ajla/Ayla, Amelie, Elisa, Emilia, Fiona, Freya, Hanna/Hannah, Ida, Ilenia, Laura, Lina, Lou, Luisa, Maya, Melina, Nelia, Noelia, Nora, Olivia, Romina, Timea, and Valea, 2 each (22-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Leon and Noah/Noa, 5 baby boys each (tie)
  2. Elias, Julian, Laurin, Leano, Levi, Linus, Lio, Lionel, Luca, Matteo/Matheo, Theo, and Valentin, 3 each (12-way tie)
  3. Alexander, Ben, Elia, Emil, Gino, Jonas, Kian, Lenny, Leyan, Lorenzo, Marlo, Nelio, Noe, Noel, and Vincent, 2 each (15-way tie)

The rest of the names were bestowed just once:

Unique girl names (94)Unique boy names (99)
Adriana, Alba, Alessia, Amara, Amaya, Amberly, Amelia, Amina, Amra, Anna, Asel, Asena, Aurelia, Aylin, Belinda, Carla, Celia, Charlotte, Chloé, Delia, Eflin, Elena, Elenor, Elina, Elisabeth, Ella, Elsa, Emily, Emma, Flavia, Frieda, Gabriella, Giada, Hale, Ivie, Jana, Julia, Juna, Kalea, Kate, Katharina, Klara, Kori, Lania, Larissa, Lea, Letizia, Lillian, Linn, Liuna, Liv, Lola, Lorine, Lua, Luna, Malea, Malia, Mara, Maria, Marie, Martina, Mayla, Melissa, Mia, Michaela, Mila, Milena, Morena, Naira, Nayla, Neea, Nilya, Noemi, Nuray, Peyang, Rital, Rosa, Ruby, Run, Samara, Sienna, Sophie, Sumaya, Sunniva, Thalia, Valentina, Valeria, Valérie, Viktoria, Viola, Vivienne, Yara, Yasmin, YunaAdni, Afonso, Albert, Amelio, Andrin, Anis, Anton, Aran, Aras, Arel, Aren, Arian, Arno, Arthur, Aurelio, Benjamin, Bernardo, Bryan, Charles, Ciro, Colin, Constantin, Daadir, Dani, Danial, David, Demir, Dijar, Ege, Eli, Elouan, Enzo, Erik, Erin, Fabian, Finn, Florian, Gabriel, Hayden, Henrik, Ilario, Ilyas, Jack, Jakob, Jayden, Johann, Jonathan, Jordan, Kenny, Konstantin, Leo, Leonardo, Leonidas, Leron, Levin, Levio, Liam, Lineo, Lino, Lou, Luan, Luciano, Mads, Magnus, Mailo, Maksim, Marco, Matej, Mats, Mattia, Matvii, Max, Maximilian, Miko, Naél, Near, Nevio, Nico, Nicolas, Paolo, Paul, Poyraz, Qingyang, Quentin, Raphael, Rayan, Rodrigo, Rui, Salvador, Samuel, Simon, Tino, Tobias, Valerio, Yaro, Yaroslav, Yuri, Yusuf, Zeyd

I didn’t post about Liechtenstein’s top baby names of 2023 or 2022, but here are Liechtenstein’s 2021 rankings.

Source: Neugeborenennamen – Liechtensteinische Landesverwaltung Statistikportal

Image: Adapted from Flag of Liechtenstein (public domain)