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.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Paula


Posts that mention the name Paula

Popular and unique baby names in Austria, 2023

Flag of Austria
Flag of Austria

Last year, the European country of Austria welcomed 77,605 babies — 37,596 girls and 40,009 boys.

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

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

Girl names

  1. Emilia, 638 baby girls
  2. Marie, 554
  3. Emma, 517
  4. Anna, 514
  5. Mia, 509
  6. Sophia, 471
  7. Valentina, 446
  8. Lena, 434
  9. Lea, 427
  10. Laura, 420
  11. Johanna, 413
  12. Lina, 412
  13. Leonie, 387
  14. Sophie, 381
  15. Hannah, 363
  16. Luisa, 362
  17. Ella, 345
  18. Olivia, 334
  19. Lara, 332
  20. Elena, 318
  21. Nora, 312
  22. Magdalena, 273
  23. Amelie, 268
  24. Mila, 264
  25. Antonia, 262
  26. Helena, 260
  27. Hanna, 252
  28. Lia, 240
  29. Valerie, 236
  30. Isabella, 223
  31. Katharina, 215 (tie)
  32. Sarah, 215 (tie)
  33. Sara, 209
  34. Klara, 207
  35. Theresa, 199
  36. Ida, 195 (tie)
  37. Miriam, 195 (tie)
  38. Elisa, 193
  39. Rosa, 191 (tie)
  40. Sofia, 191 (tie)
  41. Julia, 190
  42. Alina, 186
  43. Elina, 182
  44. Marlene, 181 (tie)
  45. Paula, 181 (tie)
  46. Paulina, 180
  47. Livia, 179
  48. Emily, 176
  49. Clara, 173
  50. Rosalie, 162

Boy names

  1. Paul, 687 baby boys
  2. Jakob, 660
  3. Elias, 625
  4. Maximilian, 620
  5. Felix, 596
  6. Noah, 577
  7. Leon, 572
  8. David, 535
  9. Tobias, 528
  10. Jonas, 520
  11. Leo, 506
  12. Lukas, 484
  13. Moritz, 447
  14. Matteo, 411
  15. Alexander, 406
  16. Theo, 397
  17. Anton, 389
  18. Fabian, 385
  19. Liam, 374
  20. Julian, 369
  21. Simon, 363
  22. Emil, 350
  23. Valentin, 337
  24. Luca, 320
  25. Florian, 315
  26. Matthias, 313
  27. Samuel, 308
  28. Johannes, 283
  29. Gabriel, 279 (tie)
  30. Raphael, 279 (tie)
  31. Lorenz, 272 (tie)
  32. Luis, 272 (tie)
  33. Theodor, 263
  34. Benjamin, 251
  35. Sebastian, 222
  36. Oskar, 216
  37. Niklas, 215
  38. Levi, 213
  39. Finn, 209
  40. Emilio, 207 (tie)
  41. Jonathan, 207 (tie)
  42. Adam, 206 (tie)
  43. Michael, 206 (tie)
  44. Ben, 201
  45. Oliver, 200
  46. Fabio, 193
  47. Mateo, 191
  48. Konstantin, 189 (tie)
  49. Max, 189 (tie)
  50. Luka, 183

In the boys’ top 100 were Ferdinand (60th), Erik (75th), Clemens (84th), and Muhammed (95th).

In the girls’ top 100 were Aurelia (61st), Frida (78th), Mathea (83rd), and Lotta (92nd).

Lower down in the rankings I spotted…

  • Girl names:
    • Finja (53 babies)
    • Dunja (22) – means “quince” in several South Slavic languages
    • Florentine (10)
    • Pelin (8) – means “wormwood” in Turkish
    • Neele (6)
    • Hannelore (4)
    • Philia (3)
  • Boy names:
    • Fridolin (184 babies)
    • Nepomuk (6) – refers to St. John of Nepomuk
    • Amadeus (4)
    • Thorin (4)
    • Atdhe (3) – means “fatherland” in Albanian
    • Pirmin (3) – refers to St. Pirmin
    • Toprak (2) – means “earth, soil,” “land,” or “country” in Turkish

Thousands of other names were given to a single baby each in Austria last year. Here’s a selection of the names that were bestowed just once:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Aristhea, Berivan, Cleophea, Diola, Elfriede, Fancy, Filianore, Galia, Helly, Irmlind, Julita, Katalia, Lysithea, Mitravinda, Nihira, Orbita, Priska, Qunut, Rudolfina, Silke, Thabea, Uresa, Valina, Weiyu, Xena, Ylenia, ZilliAnadin, Bendix, Crown, Dastan, Elino, Frowin, Guntram, Hannan, Itgelt, Jaryl, Kordian, Lambert, Medardus, Metatron, Nainoa, Oswald, Pim, Qibin, Reinhold, Siegfried, Torger, Uriel, Volodymyr, Willibald, Xichen, Yuzuru, Zinar

Some possible influences/associations for a few of the above:

  • Filianore is a character in the video game Dark Souls III (2016) — specifically, in the downloadable content pack Dark Souls III: The Ringed City (2017).
  • St. Frowin of Engelberg was a 12th-century Swiss German abbot.
  • Itgelt is likely based on the Mongolian word itgel, meaning “faith, belief.”
  • Kordian is the main character of the Polish drama Kordian (1834) by Juliusz Slowacki.
  • Lysithea refers to several figures in Greek mythology, as well as to a character in the video game Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019).
  • Metatron is an archangel mentioned in Jewish folklore.
  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the president of Ukraine.
  • St. Willibald was an 8th-century Englishman who became a bishop in Bavaria.

Finally, here’s a link to Austria’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: First names of newborns – Statistics Austria (in German), Atlas der Vornamen – Statistics Austria, Demographic characteristics of newborns – Statistics Austria, Behind the Name, Wiktionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Austria (public domain)

Popular and unique baby names in Zurich, 2023

Flag of Switzerland
Flag of Switzerland

Last year, the Swiss city of Zurich welcomed 4,475 babies — 2,202 girls and 2,273 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Leo.

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

Girl names

  1. Sofia, 26 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 21
  3. Ella, 20
  4. Emma, 17 (tie)
  5. Mila, 17 (tie)
  6. Sophia, 16
  7. Elena, 15 (tie)
  8. Mia, 15 (tie)
  9. Lea, 14 (tie)
  10. Lia, 14 (tie)
  11. Clara, 13 (3-way tie)
  12. Emilia, 13 (3-way tie)
  13. Leonie, 13 (3-way tie)
  14. Hanna, 12 (6-way tie)
  15. Lou, 12 (6-way tie)
  16. Nina, 12 (6-way tie)
  17. Nora, 12 (6-way tie)
  18. Sophie, 12 (6-way tie)
  19. Valentina, 12 (6-way tie)
  20. Ida, 11
  21. Anna, 10 (6-way tie)
  22. Emily, 10 (6-way tie)
  23. Lara, 10 (6-way tie)
  24. Laura, 10 (6-way tie)
  25. Lina, 10 (6-way tie)
  26. Zoe, 10 (6-way tie)
  27. Amélie, 9 (8-way tie)
  28. Ava, 9 (8-way tie)
  29. Malea, 9 (8-way tie)
  30. Maria, 9 (8-way tie)
  31. Maya, 9 (8-way tie)
  32. Mira, 9 (8-way tie)
  33. Romy, 9 (8-way tie)
  34. Yuna, 9 (8-way tie)
  35. Alice, 8 (9-way tie)
  36. Elea, 8 (9-way tie)
  37. Isabella, 8 (9-way tie)
  38. Lily, 8 (9-way tie)
  39. Louise, 8 (9-way tie)
  40. Luana, 8 (9-way tie)
  41. Luna, 8 (9-way tie)
  42. Sara, 8 (9-way tie)
  43. Zoé, 8 (9-way tie)
  44. Ada, 7 (12-way tie)
  45. Alma, 7 (12-way tie)
  46. Carla, 7 (12-way tie)
  47. Eliana, 7 (12-way tie)
  48. Elin, 7 (12-way tie)
  49. Elina, 7 (12-way tie)
  50. Giulia, 7 (12-way tie)
  51. Isabel, 7 (12-way tie)
  52. Julia, 7 (12-way tie)
  53. Mara, 7 (12-way tie)
  54. Paula, 7 (12-way tie)
  55. Stella, 7 (12-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Leo, 28 baby boys
  2. Louis, 19
  3. Emil, 16 (3-way tie)
  4. Leonardo, 16 (3-way tie)
  5. Theo, 16 (3-way tie)
  6. Gabriel, 15
  7. Leon, 14
  8. Julian, 13 (7-way tie)
  9. Luca, 13 (7-way tie)
  10. Luka, 13 (7-way tie)
  11. Matteo, 13 (7-way tie)
  12. Max, 13 (7-way tie)
  13. Noah, 13 (7-way tie)
  14. Oliver, 13 (7-way tie)
  15. Alexander, 12 (6-way tie)
  16. Daniel, 12 (6-way tie)
  17. Felix, 12 (6-way tie)
  18. Jakob, 12 (6-way tie)
  19. Levi, 12 (6-way tie)
  20. Nicolas, 12 (6-way tie)
  21. Arthur, 11 (3-way tie)
  22. Henry, 11 (3-way tie)
  23. Maximilian, 11 (3-way tie)
  24. Elio, 10 (4-way tie)
  25. Mael, 10 (4-way tie)
  26. Milo, 10 (4-way tie)
  27. Vincent, 10 (4-way tie)
  28. Benjamin, 9 (8-way tie)
  29. Elia, 9 (8-way tie)
  30. Kian, 9 (8-way tie)
  31. Laurin, 9 (8-way tie)
  32. Leano, 9 (8-way tie)
  33. Malik, 9 (8-way tie)
  34. Noé, 9 (8-way tie)
  35. Oskar, 9 (8-way tie)
  36. Aaron, 8 (11-way tie)
  37. Anton, 8 (11-way tie)
  38. David, 8 (11-way tie)
  39. Diego, 8 (11-way tie)
  40. Elias, 8 (11-way tie)
  41. Luan, 8 (11-way tie)
  42. Mateo, 8 (11-way tie)
  43. Oscar, 8 (11-way tie)
  44. Paul, 8 (11-way tie)
  45. Samuel, 8 (11-way tie)
  46. Valentin, 8 (11-way tie)
  47. Adam, 7 (11-way tie)
  48. Adrian, 7 (11-way tie)
  49. Dario, 7 (11-way tie)
  50. Emilio, 7 (11-way tie)
  51. Henri, 7 (11-way tie)
  52. Hugo, 7 (11-way tie)
  53. Jonathan, 7 (11-way tie)
  54. Karl, 7 (11-way tie)
  55. Liam, 7 (11-way tie)
  56. Mattia 7 (11-way tie)
  57. Vito, 7 (11-way tie)

And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a selection of the baby names that were bestowed just once in Zurich last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Audelia, Barla, Colombine, Dora, Emmeline, Franka, Georgia, Hera, Inga, Janna, Karlotta, Lielle, Malva, Nele, Ornella, Pelin, Ronela, Soline, Thekla, Urmi, Viktoria, Wanda, Xiomara, Yuliana, ZoriAlain, Benedikt, Corsin, Duri, Egon, Fiete, Golden, Hendrik, Ilya, Jannik, Klaus, Lars, Markus, Nayan, Ognjen, Piem, Rentaro, Simeon, Taavi, Ulysse, Vidan, Wilhelm, Xhonson, Yaris, Ziko

Barla and Corsin are both Romansh names, interestingly.

I didn’t post about Zurich’s top baby names of 2022, but here are Zurich’s 2021 rankings, as well as Switzerland’s 2022 rankings.

Sources: Vornamen in der Stadt Zürich – Stadt Zürich, Stadt Zürich 2023: Zunahme der Bevölkerungszahl, Rückgang der Geburten, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Switzerland (public domain)

Popular baby names in Puerto Rico, 2023

Flag of Puerto Rico
Flag of Puerto Rico

The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico welcomes roughly 19,000 babies per year.

Last year, the most popular baby names in Puerto Rico were Valentina and Thiago.

Here are Puerto Rico’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Valentina, 177 baby girls
  2. Aurora, 113 (tie)
  3. Emma, 113 (tie)
  4. Victoria, 100
  5. Catalina, 94 (tie)
  6. Luna, 94 (tie)
  7. Amaia, 89 (tie)
  8. Gianna, 89 (tie)
  9. Isabella, 88
  10. Alaia, 82
  11. Mia, 80
  12. Mikaela, 78
  13. Ainara, 75 (tie)
  14. Amira, 75 (tie)
  15. Milena, 70
  16. Amalia, 68
  17. Amanda, 66
  18. Antonella, 65
  19. Camila, 62
  20. Amelia, 61
  21. Elena, 57 (tie)
  22. Leah, 57 (tie)
  23. Paula, 56
  24. Sofia, 54
  25. Kamila, 50
  26. Gia, 47
  27. Stella, 42
  28. Mila, 41
  29. Ainhoa, 40
  30. Sophia, 39
  31. Adara, 38
  32. Lia, 36
  33. Alana, 35
  34. Amirah, 32 (4-way tie)
  35. Nahia, 32 (4-way tie)
  36. Nahiara, 32 (4-way tie)
  37. Valeria, 32 (4-way tie)
  38. Andrea, 31
  39. Paulette, 30
  40. Alanna, 29 (tie)
  41. Brianna, 29 (tie)
  42. Adhara, 28 (4-way tie)
  43. Amahia, 28 (4-way tie)
  44. Ana, 28 (4-way tie)
  45. Gabriela, 28 (4-way tie)
  46. Paulina, 27
  47. Amaya, 25 (4-way tie)
  48. Arlet, 25 (4-way tie)
  49. Katalina, 25 (4-way tie)
  50. Mariana, 25 (4-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Thiago, 290 baby boys
  2. Liam, 264
  3. Noah, 201
  4. Mateo, 156
  5. Sebastian, 146
  6. Lucas, 140
  7. Dylan, 119
  8. Ian, 115
  9. Matias, 94
  10. Adrian, 89 (tie)
  11. Elian, 89 (tie)
  12. Jayden, 84
  13. Mauro, 79
  14. Angel, 77
  15. Milan, 76
  16. Ethan, 74
  17. Nicolas, 70
  18. Jacob, 67
  19. Fabian, 66
  20. Diego, 65
  21. Elias, 63
  22. Gael, 59
  23. Aaron, 56
  24. Isaac, 51
  25. Eithan, 50 (tie)
  26. Eliam, 50 (tie)
  27. Gian, 49
  28. Enzo, 48
  29. Evan, 45 (tie)
  30. Luis, 45 (tie)
  31. Isaias, 44 (tie)
  32. Matteo, 44 (tie)
  33. Daniel, 42
  34. Julian, 40
  35. Caleb, 37
  36. Eiden, 36 (3-way tie)
  37. Gabriel, 36 (3-way tie)
  38. Matthew, 36 (3-way tie)
  39. Carlos, 34 (tie)
  40. Santiago, 34 (tie)
  41. Aiden, 33 (3-way tie)
  42. Damian, 33 (3-way tie)
  43. Dario, 33 (3-way tie)
  44. Alejandro, 32 (tie)
  45. Amir, 32 (tie)
  46. Alan, 30
  47. Alvaro, 29 (3-way tie)
  48. Keyden, 29 (3-way tie)
  49. Ryan, 29 (3-way tie)
  50. Iker, 28 (3-way tie)
  51. Jose, 28 (3-way tie)
  52. Zaid, 28 (3-way tie)

Eiden on the boys’ list caught my attention, as Eiden was also mentioned in the SSA’s press release this year. It’s on the rise both in the U.S. and in Puerto Rico right now.

The person who wrote the press release theorized that the rise of Eiden was being fueled by Wisconsin-based influencer Wyatt Eiden. But the name’s increasing popularity in Puerto Rico — plus the fact that 40% of Eiden’s U.S. usage occurred in four states with large Spanish-speaking populations (TX, CA, NY, and FL) — makes me think the name is being used primarily among U.S.-based Latin Americans (who are probably not watching Wyatt Eiden’s English-language interview/trivia videos on TikTok).

(And now I’m thinking of a recent comment by alex, who noticed that “names that have seen some use in Caribbean Latin America for 20+ years” are starting to pop up in the U.S. data, and wondered if Venezuelan immigration might have something to do with it…)

In 2022, the top names in Puerto Rico were Valentina and Liam.

Finally, what were the most popular baby names in all the other U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands) combined last year? Olivia and Elijah.

Sources: Popular Names by Territory – SSA, State and Territorial Data – National Center for Health Statistics – CDC

Image: Adapted from Flag of Puerto Rico (public domain)

What gave the baby name Madonna a boost in the mid-1980s?

Madonna's album "Like a Virgin" (1984)
Madonna album

From the early 1900s to the late 1960s, Madonna was one of the top 1,000 girl names in the United States. In terms of rankings, it was most popular in the 1930s; in terms of raw numbers of births, it was most popular in the ’50s and ’60s.

The name has been in decline ever since, but it did see a sudden spike in usage in 1985:

  • 1987: 61 baby girls named Madonna
  • 1986: 70 baby girls named Madonna
  • 1985: 146 baby girls named Madonna
  • 1984: 63 baby girls named Madonna
  • 1983: 23 baby girls named Madonna

In fact, it almost landed back inside the top 1,000 that year. (It ranked 1,033rd, just seven babies shy of 1,000th place.)

Here’s a visual:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Madonna in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Madonna

What gave it a boost?

Mononymous pop superstar Madonna (birth name: Madonna Louise Ciccone).

The singer was born into a Catholic family in Michigan in 1958. She was named after her mother. (Her five siblings are named Anthony, Martin, Paula, Christopher, and Melanie.)

Madonna rose to fame in the mid-1980s with a string of catchy hits:

  • “Holiday,” which peaked at #16 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in January of 1984
  • “Borderline,” which peaked at #10 in June of 1984
  • “Lucky Star,” which peaked at #4 in October of 1984
  • “Like a Virgin,” which peaked at #1 for six weeks starting in December of 1984
  • “Material Girl,” which peaked at #2 in March of 1985
  • “Crazy for You,” which peaked at #1 in May of 1985
    • It was written for the movie Vision Quest, in which Madonna had a cameo.
  • “Angel,” which peaked at #5 in June of 1985
  • “Into the Groove,” which was never technically released as a single
    • It was featured in the movie Desperately Seeking Susan, in which Madonna had a leading role.
  • “Dress You Up,” which peaked at #5 in October of 1985

She also got a lot of exposure on MTV. One of her most memorable MTV moments was the suggestive “Like a Virgin” performance at the very first Video Music Awards (in September of 1984):

In 1991, during a Vanity Fair interview, Madonna posed the question: “How could I be anything else but what I am having been named Madonna?”

Her name is based on the word madonna (which meant “my lady” in Old Italian). Today it’s associated with the Virgin Mary — hence its usage as a given name in Catholic families — but, centuries ago, it was simply a polite form of address similar to madame or milady. (Madonna’s first child, a daughter born in 1996, was also given a Virgin Mary-associated name: Lourdes.)

What are your thoughts on the name Madonna? Would you use it?

Sources:

P.S. Coincidentally, the primary male characters in two of Madonna’s early movies — Vision Quest and Who’s That Girl — had nearly the same (rather uncommon) first name: Louden/Loudon.