Name Awesome

Pau

#6,349 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Form of Paul

Pau has been given to 454 babies in the U.S. since 1989. In 2025 it ranked #6,349 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2018, with 41 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 95% boys, 5% girls all-time.

Babies named Pau, 2025

1 in 237,000

Pau over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Pau over time

In 2025, Pau went to 26% girls and 74% boys.

19892025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Pau: meaning, origin, and history

Form of Paul

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Pau means

Pau is a form of Paul.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Pau → Paul. The family’s meaning is “small”, recorded in English with the source elements paulus.

Origin, language, and formation

Pau is used in Catalan.

Pau comes through Latin Paulus.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Paul.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Catalan, Pau is pronounced [ˈpaw].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 431 boys were recorded with the name Pau between 1989 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 41 in 2018; its best national rank was #2,927 in 2018.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #4,660 in 2020 to #6,349 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,958 in 2015 to #6,349 in 2025.

In the United States, 23 girls were recorded with the name Pau between 2017 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 7 in 2017; its best national rank was #13,752 in 2017.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #16,935 in 2020 to #16,668 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Pau?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 237,000
14 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 122,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#6,349
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
164,137 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Pau sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 164,137 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Pau. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Paus were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Pau was born before 2017 — so the typical Pau is around 8 today.

Median birth year
2017
About 8 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
61.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
98.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
431
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 61.9% of all recorded uses (267).

Is Pau rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−1,827
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,689
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−2,391
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.52×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
34.1%
Peak was 2018 (41)
Years since peak
7
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
28.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,927
2018

Where Pau is used

Across 1910–2025, Pau was most concentrated in Oklahoma — about 1 in 50,000 boys, against 1 in 151,455 across all states with data. It was least common in Indiana (1 in —).

02 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Oklahoma1 in 50,000
  2. 2Indiana1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Pau has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Pau around the world

Where Pau ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2014–2025
    #5,137
    in 2025
  • France
    2004–2025
    #5,516
    in 2025

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Pau by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#6,349
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,689
Best rank ever
#2,927
2018
Peak year
2018
41 that year
First recorded
1989
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
431
Count in 2025
14

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#16,668
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 267
Best rank ever
#13,752
2017
Peak year
2017
7 that year
First recorded
2017
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
23
Count in 2025
5

Names similar to Pau

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

PaulaPauloPaulinoPaulinePaubloPauliePaullPaulyPaulosPaulusPaulinPaulettePaulmichaelPaulsonPaulanthonyPauljohnPaulinaPaulPauljoseph

Sibling names for Pau

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Pau

Top names of 2018, Pau's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2018Boys' names starting with PCatalan Boy NamesCatalan Names