Female name
Paula
967 births (England and Wales, 1996–2025), peaking in 2018. Expression number: 6.
Origin
Borrowed from Latin Paula, feminine form of Paulus (“Paul”).From Wiktionary, entry “Paula”, text under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Do you know a Paula?
Send them the page about their name.
How many babies received it
From the official birth registers.
In England and Wales
Peak in 2018: 51 births. 967 births from 1996 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. It is still given: 103 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, Open Government Licence v3.0.
In the United States
Peak in 1963: 10,183 births. 281,769 births from 1880 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. At its peak, it ranked 38th among girls' names in 1954. It really came into use around 1886. It is still given: 1,794 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, public domain.
In Ireland
Peak in 1979: 453 births. 5,462 births from 1964 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. At its peak, it ranked 15th among girls' names in 1979. It is still given: 16 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Central Statistics Office, Irish Babies' Names, CC BY 4.0.
Elsewhere in the world
The name in the birth records of the 10 countries we track. The period covered varies from country to country.
| Country | Births | Period | Best rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 17,213 | 2012–2023 | — |
| France | 7,115 | 1900–2025 | — |
| Switzerland | 5,979* | 1915–2025 | — |
| Austria | 4,304 | 1984–2025 | 39th in 2015 |
| Berlin | 1,348 | 2012–2023 | 27th in 2017 |
| Quebec | 206 | 1980–2025 | — |
| Belgium | 42 | 2014–2023 | — |
* These are the people living in the country, counted by year of birth, not the number of births.
Source: RENAPER, Nombres propios en Argentina, CC BY 4.0 (the registry doesn't record sex); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms, Etalab Open Licence 2.0; Federal Statistical Office, First names of the population by year of birth, free use with attribution; Statistik Austria, Vornamen, CC BY 4.0; Open Data Berlin, Häufige Vornamen, CC BY 3.0 DE (every name a child carries, not only the first); Retraite Québec, Banque de prénoms, CC BY 4.0; Statbel, first names of newborns, CC BY 4.0 (one total for the whole period, no yearly breakdown).
The numbers of the name
Each letter has a value: A = 1, B = 2… I = 9, then J = 1 again (Pythagorean method). We add them up, then reduce to a single digit, except 11, 22 and 33.
■ vowel · ■ consonant
Expression
All the letters: talents, the way you act.
6
responsibility, harmony, commitment to others
7 + 1 + 3 + 3 + 1 = 15 → 6
Soul
The vowels: what drives you deep down.
5
freedom, change, movement
1 + 3 + 1 = 5
Personality
The consonants: what others notice first.
1
initiative, independence, beginnings
7 + 3 = 10 → 1
- Digits missing from the name
- 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9
- Most frequent digit
- 1 · initiative, independence, beginnings
The meaning of the numbers comes from numerological tradition; it isn't a measure of your personality. A full portrait needs your first and middle names, your last name at birth, and your date of birth. How we calculate
Your name and theirs
The number of each name, and the number of the bond, which comes from adding them together. A symbolic game: what your two names say together, to be read as a metaphor, not as a verdict on your relationship.