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

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.

Popular baby names in Spain, 2022

Flag of Spain
Flag of Spain

The country of Spain, which makes up most of Europe’s Iberian Peninsula, shares land borders with France, Andorra, and Portugal.

Last year, Spain welcomed 159,649 baby girls and 169,602 baby boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Lucia and Martin (again).

Here are Spain’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Lucia, 3,539 baby girls
  2. Sofia, 2,899
  3. Martina, 2,651
  4. Valeria, 2,580
  5. Maria, 2,443
  6. Julia, 2,240
  7. Paula, 1,912
  8. Emma, 1,864
  9. Olivia, 1,862
  10. Daniela, 1,661
  11. Carla, 1,655
  12. Alma, 1,619
  13. Mia, 1,614
  14. Carmen, 1,613
  15. Vega, 1,544
  16. Lola, 1,542
  17. Lara, 1,537
  18. Sara, 1,453
  19. Alba, 1,440
  20. Jimena, 1,410
  21. Noa, 1,397
  22. Chloe, 1,391
  23. Valentina, 1,365
  24. Claudia, 1,272
  25. Aitana, 1,110
  26. Ana, 1,042 (tie)
  27. Gala, 1,042 (tie)
  28. Vera, 1,029
  29. Abril, 1,028
  30. Alejandra, 1,024
  31. Triana, 997
  32. Manuela, 985
  33. Candela, 974
  34. Laia, 970
  35. Zoe, 908
  36. Ines, 901
  37. Adriana, 895
  38. Victoria, 873
  39. Elena, 868
  40. Blanca, 859
  41. Marina, 839
  42. Carlota, 798
  43. Marta, 708
  44. Clara, 705
  45. Luna, 703
  46. Nora, 699
  47. Lia, 683
  48. Rocio, 676
  49. Ariadna, 641
  50. Irene, 618

Boy Names

  1. Martin, 3,224 baby boys
  2. Mateo, 3,132
  3. Hugo, 3,074
  4. Leo, 2,752
  5. Lucas, 2,537
  6. Manuel, 2,491
  7. Alejandro, 2,281
  8. Pablo, 2,238
  9. Daniel, 2,237
  10. Alvaro, 1,938
  11. Enzo, 1,838
  12. Adrian, 1,683
  13. Luca, 1,677
  14. Diego, 1,540
  15. Thiago, 1,529
  16. Mario, 1,497
  17. Bruno, 1,471
  18. David, 1,389
  19. Oliver, 1,380
  20. Alex, 1,317
  21. Marcos, 1,274
  22. Gonzalo, 1,272
  23. Liam, 1,256
  24. Marco, 1,230
  25. Miguel, 1,226
  26. Izan, 1,220
  27. Antonio, 1,188
  28. Javier, 1,151
  29. Nicolas, 1,150
  30. Gael, 1,109
  31. Marc, 1,040
  32. Juan, 1,036
  33. Dario, 1,009
  34. Angel, 988
  35. Carlos, 977
  36. Jose, 956
  37. Gabriel, 945
  38. Dylan, 883
  39. Rodrigo, 865
  40. Adam, 796
  41. Samuel, 791
  42. Jorge, 775
  43. Jaime, 752
  44. Eric, 741 (tie)
  45. Sergio, 741 (tie)
  46. Pau, 685
  47. Guillermo, 684
  48. Francisco, 674
  49. Hector, 668
  50. Noah, 651

Home to more than 47 million people, Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities (including two island groups) and two autonomous cities (both in North Africa).

Map of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain
Spain’s 17 autonomous communities

The most popular baby names within each of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities last year were…

Top Girl NameTop Boy Name
Andalusia
(17.8% of the population)
MariaManuel
Catalonia
(16.4% of pop.)
JuliaLeo
Madrid (community)
(14.3% of pop.)
LuciaMateo
Valencia (community)
(10.9% of pop.)
LuciaMateo
Galicia
(5.6% of pop.)
NoaMartin
Castile and León
(5.0% of pop.)
LuciaMartin
Basque Country
(4.6% of pop.)
AneMartin
Canary Islands
(4.6% of pop.)
ValeriaMateo
Castilla-La Mancha
(4.3% of pop.)
Lucia & Valeria (tie)Hugo
Murcia
(3.2% of pop.)
LuciaHugo
Aragon
(2.8% of pop.)
LuciaMartin
Balearic Islands
(2.5% of pop.)
MartinaMarc
Extremadura
(2.2% of pop.)
LuciaManuel
Asturias
(2.1% of pop.)
SofiaMartin
Navarre
(1.4% of pop.)
LuciaMateo
Cantabria
(1.2% of pop.)
LuciaMartin & Mateo (tie)
La Rioja
(0.7% of pop.)
LuciaMateo

And the #1 baby names within each of Spain’s two autonomous cities were…

Top Girl NameTop Boy Name
Melilla
(0.2% of pop.)
SaraMohamed & Rayan (tie)
Ceuta
(0.2% of pop.)
MariamMohamed

Finally, here’s a link to Spain’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Apellidos y nombres más frecuentes – INEbase, Estadística de nacimientos – INEbase, Population of Spain in 2023 by autonomous community – Statista, Spain – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Spain (public domain)
Map: Adapted from Autonomous communities of Spain no names by Habbit under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Popular baby names in Puerto Rico, 2022

Flag of Puerto Rico
Flag of Puerto Rico

The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is located in the Caribbean Sea, about 1,000 miles southeast of Miami, and has about 3.2 million residents.

What were the most popular baby names in Puerto Rico last year? Valentina and Liam.

Here are Puerto Rico’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Valentina, 202 baby girls
  2. Emma, 138
  3. Victoria, 121
  4. Luna, 117
  5. Aurora, 116
  6. Amaia, 104
  7. Catalina, 101
  8. Mia, 99
  9. Milena, 95
  10. Gianna, 89
  11. Isabella, 88
  12. Mikaela, 82
  13. Camila, 77
  14. Sofia, 67
  15. Amalia, 66
  16. Amanda, 59
  17. Amelia, 58
  18. Sophia, 57
  19. Amira, 55
  20. Alaia, 52 (3-way tie)
  21. Leah, 52 (3-way tie)
  22. Paula, 52 (3-way tie)
  23. Ainhoa, 49 (tie)
  24. Elena, 49 (tie)
  25. Ainara, 45 (tie)
  26. Antonella, 45 (tie)
  27. Gia, 44
  28. Alanna, 43
  29. Valeria, 41
  30. Kamila, 39 (tie)
  31. Stella, 39 (tie)
  32. Alana, 36
  33. Gabriela, 35
  34. Andrea, 34 (tie)
  35. Brianna, 34 (tie)
  36. Nahiara, 33
  37. Mariana, 32
  38. Ana, 29 (tie)
  39. Lia, 29 (tie)
  40. Marina, 28 (3-way tie)
  41. Mila, 28 (3-way tie)
  42. Paulette, 28 (3-way tie)
  43. Kailani, 27
  44. Adriana, 25 (tie)
  45. Amahia, 25 (tie)
  46. Anahia, 24
  47. Amaya, 23 (3-way tie)
  48. Cataleya, 23 (3-way tie)
  49. Katalina, 23 (3-way tie)
  50. Ariana, 22 (7-way tie)
  51. Chloe, 22 (7-way tie)
  52. Liah, 22 (7-way tie)
  53. Nahia, 22 (7-way tie)
  54. Nayla, 22 (7-way tie)
  55. Paulina, 22 (7-way tie)
  56. Samara, 22 (7-way tie)

Boy Names

  1. Liam, 269 baby boys
  2. Thiago, 254
  3. Noah, 253
  4. Mateo, 186
  5. Sebastian, 184
  6. Lucas, 152
  7. Dylan, 145
  8. Ian, 128
  9. Nicolas, 103
  10. Ethan, 98
  11. Jayden, 94
  12. Adrian, 91
  13. Jacob, 82 (tie)
  14. Matias, 82 (tie)
  15. Angel, 77
  16. Fabian, 69
  17. Elias, 68
  18. Diego, 65
  19. Gael, 64
  20. Matteo, 63
  21. Eithan, 62 (tie)
  22. Elian, 62 (tie)
  23. Mauro, 57 (tie)
  24. Milan, 57 (tie)
  25. Isaac, 56 (tie)
  26. Luis, 56 (tie)
  27. Aaron, 53
  28. Gian, 48
  29. Daniel, 47
  30. Alan, 45 (tie)
  31. Julian, 45 (tie)
  32. Damian, 43
  33. Gabriel, 41 (tie)
  34. Jose, 41 (tie)
  35. Isaias, 40
  36. Matthew, 40
  37. Leonardo, 39
  38. Alejandro, 38 (3-way tie)
  39. Carlos, 38 (3-way tie)
  40. Evan, 38 (3-way tie)
  41. Caleb, 37
  42. Eliam, 36 (tie)
  43. Nathan, 36 (tie)
  44. Enzo, 33 (3-way tie)
  45. Keyden, 33 (3-way tie)
  46. Zabdiel, 33 (3-way tie)
  47. Juan, 32 (3-way tie)
  48. Kaleb, 32 (3-way tie)
  49. Ryan, 32 (3-way tie)
  50. Andres, 30 (tie)
  51. Kayden, 30 (tie)

In 2021, the top names in Puerto Rico were also Valentina and Liam.

And 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? Luna and Jayden.

Sources: Popular Names by Territory – SSA, Puerto Rico – Wikipedia

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

Popular baby names in Mexico, 2021

Flag of Mexico
Flag of Mexico

Mexico, the 10th-most-populated country in the world, is located in the southern part of North America.

In 2021, Mexico welcomed 1,912,178 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Santiago.

Here are Mexico’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Sofia, 6,552 baby girls
  2. Maria Jose, 6,019
  3. Valentina, 5,671
  4. Regina, 5,556
  5. Camila, 5,255
  6. Valeria, 3,890
  7. Ximena, 3,794
  8. Maria Fernanda, 3,779
  9. Victoria, 3,622
  10. Renata, 3,495
  11. Romina, 3,447
  12. Isabella, 3,199
  13. Natalia, 3,036
  14. Daniela, 3,012
  15. Ana Sofia, 2,790
  16. Alexa, 2,528
  17. Fernanda, 2,515
  18. Maria Guadalupe, 2,468
  19. Samantha, 2,322
  20. Andrea, 2,275
  21. Aitana, 2,208
  22. Emily, 2,133
  23. Melissa, 2,107
  24. Guadalupe, 2,030
  25. Elizabeth, 2,002
  26. Mariana, 1,828
  27. Yamileth, 1,730 – a Latin American variant of the Arabic name Jamila
  28. Danna Sofia, 1,696
  29. Ana Victoria, 1,644
  30. Ana Paula, 1,620
  31. Alejandra, 1,581
  32. Fatima, 1,565
  33. Abigail, 1,560
  34. Julieta, 1,543
  35. Evelyn, 1,540
  36. Esmeralda, 1,407
  37. Luciana, 1,395
  38. Lucia, 1,299
  39. Estefania, 1,260
  40. Maria, 1,244
  41. Jimena, 1,227
  42. Vanessa, 1,215
  43. Ivanna, 1,201
  44. Dayana, 1,197
  45. Kimberly, 1,142
  46. Angela, 1,122
  47. Samara, 1,113
  48. Carolina, 1,102
  49. Emma, 1,098
  50. Miranda, 1,096

Boy Names

  1. Santiago, 9,963 baby boys
  2. Mateo, 8,209
  3. Sebastian, 6,381
  4. Leonardo, 5,784
  5. Matias, 4,708
  6. Emiliano, 4,541
  7. Daniel, 4,133
  8. Gael, 4,024
  9. Miguel Angel, 4,019
  10. Diego, 4,014
  11. Alexander, 3,644
  12. Alejandro, 3,640
  13. Jesus, 3,179
  14. Angel, 2,928
  15. David, 2,866
  16. Tadeo, 2,795 – the Spanish form of Thaddeus
  17. Fernando, 2,676
  18. Luis Angel, 2,632
  19. Rodrigo, 2,533
  20. Jose Angel, 2,442
  21. Maximiliano, 2,411
  22. Jose Luis, 2,374
  23. Gabriel, 2,365
  24. Eduardo, 2,357
  25. Emmanuel, 2,344
  26. Dylan, 2,325
  27. Rafael, 2,142
  28. Juan Pablo, 2,080
  29. Samuel, 2,066
  30. Juan Carlos, 2,052
  31. Jose Manuel, 2,046
  32. Nicolas, 1,989
  33. Isaac, 1,972
  34. Leonel, 1,966
  35. Elias, 1,940
  36. Damian, 1,899
  37. Liam, 1,880
  38. Axel, 1,850
  39. Emilio, 1,822
  40. Ricardo, 1,778
  41. Adrian, 1,770
  42. Jose Miguel, 1,739
  43. Jonathan, 1,710
  44. Carlos, 1,689
  45. Antonio, 1,680
  46. Francisco, 1,678
  47. Javier, 1,675
  48. Alexis, 1,672
  49. Alan, 1,657
  50. Miguel, 1,636

The girls’ top 100 included Dulce Maria (51st), Aylin (58th), Itzayana (67th), and Lucero (93rd).

The boys’ top 100 included Juan (56th), Abraham (66th), Erick (83rd), and Brayan (87th).

Compound first names tend to be shortened for everyday use (e.g, “Juan Carlos” into “Juanca”), but few of these shortened forms have evolved into popular legal names, which I find surprising. I didn’t spot any examples on the boys’ side of the rankings, and only a handful — such as Mayte/Maite, short for María Teresa, and Maribel, short for María Isabel — on the girls’ side.

Finally, here are Mexico’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare.

Sources: Natalidad – INEGI, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Mexico (public domain)