Paula Girl

How popular is Paula?

#853 girl name in 2025

318 baby girls were named Paula in the US in 2025, making it the 853rd most popular girl name.

Compare with other names
226,715living people named Paula (est.)
64median age of people named Paula
281,769babies named Paula since 1880
1 in 10,426US babies born in 2025

Paula popularity over time

07,50015,000 18801900192019401960198020002020

Boys Girls

Rank in 2025#853 for girls (▼ 101 from 2024)
Babies in 2025318 girls
10-year trendSteady (+3% babies vs 2015)
Earlier ranks#889 in 2015, #822 in 2020
Peak year1963 (10,156 girls)
Highest rank#38 in 1954
First recorded1880
Boys vs girls (last 10 years)1% boys, 99% girls
Chance a classmate shares it0.2% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025

Where Paula is most popular

Babies named Paula per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.

  1. Arizona: 0.6 per 1,000 (83 girls)
  2. Texas: 0.5 per 1,000 (431 girls)
  3. Florida: 0.4 per 1,000 (188 girls)
  4. California: 0.3 per 1,000 (291 girls)
  5. Illinois: 0.3 per 1,000 (68 girls)

Paula by decade

DecadeBaby girlsBest rank
1880s178#421
1890s424#377
1900s666#349
1910s2,022#357
1920s4,554#254
1930s8,861#159
1940s39,044#52
1950s84,869#38
1960s80,512#42
1970s32,724#57
1980s11,072#173
1990s6,330#296
2000s4,177#572
2010s3,310#721
2020s2,113#706

Girl names about as popular as Paula

Questions

Is Paula a boy or girl name?
Paula is mostly a girl name. Over the last 10 years, 99% of babies named Paula were girls.
How popular is the name Paula?
318 baby girls were named Paula in the US in 2025, making it the 853rd most popular girl name.
When was Paula most popular?
Paula peaked in 1963, when 10,156 girls were given the name. Its highest rank was #38 in 1954.
How many people are named Paula?
281,769 babies have been named Paula in the US since 1880. We estimate about 226,715 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 64.
Where is Paula most popular?
From 2021 to 2025, Paula was most common in Arizona, at 0.6 of every 1,000 girls born there.

Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.