Greek paulos, "small." St. Paul, a Jew who had persecuted Christians, became one of Christianity's most ardent advocates after his conversion. Through his epistles, Paul's presentation of Christian beliefs became one of the main foundations of the faith. Paul was also the name of six popes. Paul was not a common name in England before the 20th century, but it was very popular in Russia, Italy, Spain, and France. Painters Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, and Paul Klee lent the name artistic roots, while the American Revolutionary hero Paul Revere gave the name stature in the United States. The name has been particularly popular among actors, including Paul Muni, Paul Newman, Paul Robeson, Paul Scofield, and Paul Winfield. Paul also seems to be a lucky name for biochemists recently: Paul Nurse was cowinner of the Nobel Prize in medicine in 2001, and Paul C. Lauterbur shared the same prize in 2003. Though the modern search for newer names and the reluctance to use one-syllable forms has led to a drop in Paul's use, it was still the 130th most common boys name given in the United States in 2005.

Famous names: Paul Harvey (commentator), Paul McCartney (musician)

Nickname: Paulie, Pava (Russian)

Variations: Paal (Estonian), Paavo (Finnish), Pablo (Spanish), Pal (Hungarian, Scots Gaelic, and Swedish), Paolo (Italian), Pau (Catalan), Paulo (Portuguese), Paulos (Greek), Paulus (Latin and Dutch), Paval (Bulgarian and Slovenian), Pavao (Serbo-Croatian), Pavel (Czech and Russian), Pavlo (Ukrainian), Pawel (Polish), Pol (Irish Gaelic), Polo (Italian), Poul (Danish), Povilas (Lithuanian), Powell

Find out about popular Irish names.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Cleveland Kent Evans, Ph.D., is one of the foremost experts on name usage in the United States. His current work on given names involves personality, social psychology, history, and popular culture.