Paula

Paula: the feminine form of a small Roman name

Paula means “small,” as the feminine form of the Roman name Paulus. It belongs to the same family as Paul, with a final a giving it a distinct feminine form. English usually pronounces it PAW-luh, while Spanish and German commonly use a sound closer to POW-lah.

Paulus, Paul, and an early Roman bearer

The Latin word paulus meant small, and the Roman name developed from that description. Paula carries the same root directly into its feminine form, making it part of a name family that was established long before its modern international use.

A fourth-century Roman saint named Paula was a companion of Saint Jerome. This gives the feminine name an early Christian history of its own, alongside the much wider influence of Paul. The form later became familiar across languages including Spanish, Portuguese, German, Finnish, and English.

Its written shape stays consistent in many of those languages even when the vowels change. English often brings the first syllable close to the sound in Paul, while Spanish and German keep the au combination audible as a sound like the vowel in cow.

Paula Modersohn-Becker and artistic self-portraiture

Painter Paula Modersohn-Becker gives the name a significant artistic association. Her training and working life took her through Berlin, the artists’ community at Worpswede, and Paris, where she studied at the Académie Colarossi. Those different settings formed part of her development from student to independent artist.

Her self-portraits became an especially important part of her work. She explored the human figure through drawings and paintings, using her own image as well as portraits of people around her. A major exhibition at Bremen’s Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum brought together more than fifty works to trace that self-portrait history.

The museum and the foundation devoted to her preserve paintings, drawings, letters, and the record of her artistic development. Paula consequently has a cultural connection with both the work she made and the institutions that continue to present it.

Paula Radcliffe and distance running

Runner Paula Radcliffe supplies a modern sporting association. At the London Marathon on April 13, 2003, she ran 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 25 seconds, setting a women’s world record. That performance became one of the defining achievements of her career.

The precise time remains central to accounts of her running, placing the familiar two-syllable name beside a major milestone in marathon history. It is a very different public setting from Modersohn-Becker’s studios, showing the range of modern associations carried by the same name.

American popularity

Paula reached its best U.S. girl-name rank of 38 in 1954. Its largest annual count came in 1963, with 10,156 births.

It ranked 891 in 2015, 824 in 2020, and 855 in 2025. The recent figures show a relatively steady American presence well below its strongest mid-century years.

How popular is Paula?

In 2025, Paula ranked #855 among girls in the United States, with 318 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1880; its largest annual count was 10,156 in 1963. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.