NameYear

Boys' name · peaked in 1964

Paul name popularity since 1925

1,234,598 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Paul. Half of them were born in 1959 or earlier, so the typical Paul is about 67 years old in 2026. Paul peaked in 1964 as the #16 name for boys, and it ranked #262 in 2025.

US babies since 1925
1,234,598
Named Paul, 1925–2025
Peak year
1964
#16 for boys that year
Typical age
About 67
Median birth year 1959
In 2025
#262
for boys in 2025 (1,316 babies)
Girls / boys
99.6% boys
4,895 girls · 1,229,703 boys
Most popular in
Massachusetts
2.45× its national share

Peak year is the year Paul made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.

Paul births per year, 1925–2025

Babies named Paul per year, 1925–2025

The biggest year by count was 1957. Measured as a share of all babies, Paul peaked in 1964.

  • Steepest fall: Between 1968 and 1973, Paul's share of baby boys fell by 34%, from 1 in 79 to 1 in 121.

Shaded on the chart. This compares Paul's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Paul.

Decade by decade

Babies named Paul in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).

Decade GirlsBoys Rank
1925–29 48367,023 –
1930s 631125,774 #14
1940s 538183,364 #17
1950s 615253,202 #16
1960s 916242,503 #16
1970s 815136,390 #29
1980s 708104,397 #42
1990s 14658,931 #71
2000s 4330,964 #130
2010s 019,030 #200
2020–25 08,125 #262

Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.

Generation fingerprint

38.1% of babies named Paul from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:

Paul by generation Greatest Generation born 1925–27 3.4% Silent Generation born 1928–45 20.2% Baby Boomers born 1946–64 38.1% Gen X born 1965–80 21.3% Millennials born 1981–96 11.3% Gen Z born 1997–2012 4.1% Gen Alpha born 2013–25 1.7%

Where Paul is most popular

The index compares Paul's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Paul.

StateIndexBabies
Massachusetts2.45×72,686
Rhode Island2.17×9,552
Vermont1.74×3,613
Maine1.69×9,015
New Hampshire1.69×6,622

Names with a similar story

Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Paul's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Paul.

Names from the same era

Other common names that peaked within two years of Paul (1964).

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data