Paul

See also: paul and pa'ul

English

Etymology

From Latin Paulus, from paulus (“small”). Doublet of Pablo and Paolo.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɔːl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɔl/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /pɑl/

• Audio (US, female voice):

  (file)

• Audio (US, male voice):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːl
• Homophones: pall, pawl

Proper noun

Paul

1. In the New Testament, Saul, Apostle to the Gentiles and author of fourteen epistles.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 13:9:

     Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him.

2. A male given name from Latin of biblical origin.
   • 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Dombey and Son: Chapter 1”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     'He will be christened Paul, my - Mrs Dombey - of course.'
     She feebly echoed, 'Of course,' or rather expressed it by the motion of her lips, and closed her eyes again.
     'His father's name, Mrs Dombey, and his grandfather's! I wish his grandfather were alive this day! There is some inconvenience in the necessity of writing Junior,' said Mr Dombey, making a fictitious autograph on his knee; 'but it is merely of a private and personal complexion. It doesn't enter into the correspondence of the House. Its signature remains the same.'

   • 2006 October 18, David M. Halbfinger, “Hollywood Film Chain’s Latest Link”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 21 June 2025:

     Primarily seen as a publicity vehicle for late-year releases, the awards show and its promoters have lately made pretensions to Oscar oracling: Jamie Foxx won the “breakthrough actor of the year” prize for “Ray” in 2004, after all, and Paul Haggis and his ensemble cast were honored for “Crash” four months before it won best picture.

   • 2022 September 10, Matt McFarland, “Why your car’s speedometer goes up to 160 mph (even when your car can’t)”, in CNN Business‎^[2]:

     Toyota spokesman Paul Hogard said the automaker wants speedometers to be easy to read, so there’s value in placing the typical operating speed of American cars, 45 mph to 70 mph, he said, at the top of the speedometer, which is the easiest place on the speedometer for the driver to read.

3. A surname originating as a patronymic.
   • 2025 September 16, Jacob Sullum, “Brendan Carr and Ted Cruz Don't Think Charlie Kirk's Murder Justifies Speech Restrictions”, in Reason‎^[3]:

     In a Fox Business interview on Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) alluded to the distinction between private and government responses to offensive speech, but his comments were ambiguous enough that an uncharitable viewer could easily interpret them as approval of the latter.

4. A place name:
   1. An unincorporated community in Conecuh County, Alabama, United States, named after Paul the Apostle.
   2. A city in Minidoka County, Idaho, United States.
   3. An unincorporated community in Otoe County, Nebraska, United States.
   4. A village south of Newlyn in Penzance parish, south-west Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SW4627). The civil parish of Paul (abolished 2021) did not include the village in latter years, and is now included in St Buryan, Lamorna and Paul.
   5. A municipality on Santo Antão, Cape Verde.

Derived terms

• Paul Bert effect
• Paul Blart
• Paulian
• Paulie
• Paulism
• Paulist
• Paulite
• paulscherrerite
• Pauls Valley
• Paultard
• Paul Veronese green
• rob Peter to pay Paul
• Saint Paul Charlestown
• Saint Paul, St. Paul
• St Buryan, Lamorna and Paul
• St Paul's Walden

Related terms

• feminine forms: Paula, Paulette, Paulina, Pauline
• surnames:

• Fyall
• Mackfall
• MacPhail
• McFall
• McFaul
• McPhail
• Paule
• Paulet
• Pauley
• Paulin
• Pauling
• Paull
• Paulley
• Paulson
• Pauly
• Paw
• Pawle
• Pawlett
• Pawley
• Pawling
• Pawlyn
• Pawson
• Pole
• Poles
• Poll
• Pollard
• Pollins
• Polson
• Pool
• Poole
• Poulsom
• Poulson
• Powell
• Powles
• Powley
• Powling
• Quail
• Quaile
• Quayle

Translations

the Apostle

• Albanian: Palush m
• Amharic: ጳውሎስ (p̣awlos)
• Arabic: بُولُس (būlus)
• Armenian: Պողոս (Poġos)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܦܵܘܠܘܿܣ m (Pawlos)
• Bulgarian: Па́вел m (Pável)
• Catalan: Pau (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 保羅 / 保罗 (bou² lo⁴), 保祿 / 保禄 (bou² luk⁶) (Catholic)

  Hakka: 保羅 / 保罗 (Pó-lò)

  Hokkien: 保羅 / 保罗 (Pó-lô), 保祿 / 保禄 (Pó-lo̍k) (Catholic)

  Mandarin: 保羅 / 保罗 (zh) (Bǎoluó), 保祿 / 保禄 (zh) (Bǎolù) (Catholic)

• Coptic: ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ (paulos)
• Czech: Pavel (cs) m
• Danish: Paulus m
• Dutch: Paulus (nl) m
• Esperanto: Paŭlo
• Estonian: Paulus (et)
• Faroese: Paulus m
• Finnish: Paavali (fi)
• French: Paul (fr) m

  Old French: Pol m

• German: Paulus (de) m
• Gothic: 𐍀𐌰𐍅𐌻𐌿𐍃 m (pawlus)
• Greek: Παύλος (el) m (Pávlos)

  Ancient: Παῦλος m (Paûlos)

• Haitian Creole: Pòl
• Hawaiian: Paulo
• Hebrew: פאולוס
• Hindi: पौलुस m (paulus)
• Hungarian: Pál (hu)
• Irish: Pól m, Naomh Pól m
• Italian: Paolo (it) m
• Japanese: パウロ (Pauro)
• Kazakh: Пауыл (Pauyl)
• Korean: 바오로 (Baoro)
• Latin: Paulus m
• Latvian: Pāvils m
• Lithuanian: Paulius (lt) m
• Macedonian: Павле m (Pavle)
• Malay: Paulus
• Maltese: Pawlu m
• Maore Comorian: Ɓaulusu
• Maori: Pāora
• Marathi: पॉल m (pŏl)
• Middle Persian:

  Manichean: 𐫛𐫇𐫓𐫏𐫘 (Pawlīs)

• Northern Sami: Bávlos
• Norwegian: Paulus (no), Pål (no)
• Old English: Paulus m
• Persian: پولس (fa) (pulos)
• Polish: Paweł (pl) m
• Portuguese: Paulo (pt) m
• Romanian: Pavel (ro) m
• Russian: Па́вел (ru) m (Pável)
• Sindhi: پولس (pols)
• Sinhalese: පාවුල් (pāwul)
• Slovene: Pavel (sl) m
• Spanish: Pablo (es) m
• Swahili: Paulo
• Swedish: Paulus (sv) c
• Tigrinya: ጳውሎስ (p̣awlos)
• Ukrainian: Павло́ (uk) m (Pavló)
• Urdu: پولس m (pawlus), پولوس m (pawlos)
• Vietnamese: Phao-lô, Phaolô, Bảo Lộc
• Welsh: Paul m, Pawl m
• West Frisian: Paulus

male given name

• Albanian: Palush m, Pal m
• Amharic: ጳውሎስ (p̣awlos)
• Arabic: بَوْل m (bawl)

  Hijazi Arabic: بول m (bōl), پول m (pōl)

• Armenian: Պողոս (Poġos)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܦܵܘܠܘܿܣ m (Pawlos)
• Basque: Paulo
• Belarusian: Па́вал m (Pával) (cognate), Пол m (Pol) (transliteration)
• Breton: Paol (br)
• Bulgarian: Па́вел m (Pável), Пол m (Pol)
• Catalan: Pau (ca) m, Pol (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 保羅 / 保罗 (zh) (Bǎoluó)

• Cornish: Pawl
• Czech: Pavel (cs) m
• Danish: Poul c
• Dutch: Paul (nl) m, Pol (nl) m
• Esperanto: Paŭlo
• Estonian: Paavel, Paavo (et)
• Faroese: Páll m, Pál m
• Finnish: Paavali (fi), Paavo (fi), Pauli (fi)
• Franco-Provençal: Por, Pol
• French: Paul (fr) m
• Galician: Paulo (gl) m
• Georgian: პავლე (ka) (ṗavle)
• German: Paul (de) m
• Greek: Παύλος (el) m (Pávlos), transliterations: Πολ (el) (Pol), dated Πωλ (el) (Pol)
• Greenlandic: Pavia, Paalu
• Hawaiian: Paulo
• Hebrew: פול (he) (pol)
• Hindi: पॉल (pŏl)
• Hungarian: Pál (hu)
• Icelandic: Páll (is) m
• Irish: Póil, Pól m
• Italian: Paolo (it) m
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} ポール (ja) (Pо̄ru)
• Korean: 폴 (Pol)
• Latin: Paulus m
• Latvian: Pauls m
• Lithuanian: Paulius (lt) m
• Macedonian: Павле m (Pavle)
• Maltese: Pawl m, Pawlu m
• Mansi:

  Northern Mansi: Па̄ял (Pāâl)

• Maori: Pāora
• Marathi: पॉल m (pŏl)
• Northern Sami: Bávlos
• Norwegian: Pål (no), Paul (no)
• Persian: پاول (pâol)
• Polish: Paweł (pl) m
• Portuguese: Paulo (pt) m
• Romanian: Pavel (ro) m
• Russian: Па́вел (ru) m (Pável) (cognate), Пол (ru) m (Pol) (transliteration)
• Scottish Gaelic: Pòl m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Павле m, Павао m

  Roman: Pavle (sh) m, Pavao m

• Skolt Sami: Paavvâl
• Slovak: Pavol m
• Slovene: Pavel (sl) m
• Spanish: Pablo (es) m
• Swahili: Paulo
• Swedish: Paul (sv), Pål
• Telugu: పాల్ (pāl)
• Ukrainian: Павло́ (uk) m (Pavló) (cognate), Пол m (Pol) (transliteration)
• Urdu: پال m or m (pāl)
• Venetan: Poło
• Welsh: Paul m, Pawl m
• West Frisian: Pouw
• Yakut: Байбал (Baybal)

Anagrams

• Palu, Pula, ULPA, pula

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from English Paul, from Latin Paulus, paulus (“small”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpol/ [ˈpol̪]

Proper noun

Paul (Badlit spelling ᜉᜓᜎ᜔)

1. a male given name from English [in turn from Latin]

See also

• Paulo

Cimbrian

Proper noun

Paul

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Paul

References

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Danish

Proper noun

Paul

1. a male given name, a variant of the much more popular Poul

Dutch

Etymology

From Latin Paulus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɑl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Paul

Proper noun

Paul m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Paul

Estonian

Proper noun

Paul

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Paul

Finnish

Etymology

From the Swedish, German or English Paul. Cognate with the older Finnish Paavo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɑu̯l/, [ˈpɑ̝u̯l]
• Rhymes: -ɑul
• Syllabification^(key): Paul
• Hyphenation^(key): Paul

Proper noun

Paul

1. a male given name
   • 1946, Anni Swan, Pauli on koditon, WSOY, published 1960, page 21:

     —Sanohan ensin mikä nimesi on?
     —Pauli.
     —Pauli, toisti Anna hitaasti. Minulla oli ennen pieni, Paul niminen veli, lisäsi hän.

     —Could you first tell me your name?
     —Pauli.
     —Pauli, Anna slowly repeated. I used to have a little brother named Paul, she added.

Usage notes

• More common in the vernacular form Pauli.

Declension

Inflection of Paul (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		Paul	Paulit
genitive		Paulin	Paulien
partitive		Paulia	Pauleja
illative		Pauliin	Pauleihin
		singular	plural
nominative		Paul	Paulit
accusative	nom.	Paul	Paulit
	gen.	Paulin
genitive		Paulin	Paulien
partitive		Paulia	Pauleja
inessive		Paulissa	Pauleissa
elative		Paulista	Pauleista
illative		Pauliin	Pauleihin
adessive		Paulilla	Pauleilla
ablative		Paulilta	Pauleilta
allative		Paulille	Pauleille
essive		Paulina	Pauleina
translative		Pauliksi	Pauleiksi
abessive		Paulitta	Pauleitta
instructive		—	Paulein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of Paul (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Paulini Paulini accusative nom. Paulini Paulini gen. Paulini genitive Paulini Paulieni partitive Pauliani Paulejani inessive Paulissani Pauleissani elative Paulistani Pauleistani illative Pauliini Pauleihini adessive Paulillani Pauleillani ablative Pauliltani Pauleiltani allative Paulilleni Pauleilleni essive Paulinani Pauleinani translative Paulikseni Pauleikseni abessive Paulittani Pauleittani instructive — — comitative — Pauleineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Paulisi Paulisi accusative nom. Paulisi Paulisi gen. Paulisi genitive Paulisi Pauliesi partitive Pauliasi Paulejasi inessive Paulissasi Pauleissasi elative Paulistasi Pauleistasi illative Pauliisi Pauleihisi adessive Paulillasi Pauleillasi ablative Pauliltasi Pauleiltasi allative Paulillesi Pauleillesi essive Paulinasi Pauleinasi translative Pauliksesi Pauleiksesi abessive Paulittasi Pauleittasi instructive — — comitative — Pauleinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Paulimme Paulimme accusative nom. Paulimme Paulimme gen. Paulimme genitive Paulimme Pauliemme partitive Pauliamme Paulejamme inessive Paulissamme Pauleissamme elative Paulistamme Pauleistamme illative Pauliimme Pauleihimme adessive Paulillamme Pauleillamme ablative Pauliltamme Pauleiltamme allative Paulillemme Pauleillemme essive Paulinamme Pauleinamme translative Pauliksemme Pauleiksemme abessive Paulittamme Pauleittamme instructive — — comitative — Pauleinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Paulinne Paulinne accusative nom. Paulinne Paulinne gen. Paulinne genitive Paulinne Paulienne partitive Paulianne Paulejanne inessive Paulissanne Pauleissanne elative Paulistanne Pauleistanne illative Pauliinne Pauleihinne adessive Paulillanne Pauleillanne ablative Pauliltanne Pauleiltanne allative Paulillenne Pauleillenne essive Paulinanne Pauleinanne translative Pauliksenne Pauleiksenne abessive Paulittanne Pauleittanne instructive — — comitative — Pauleinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative Paulinsa Paulinsa accusative nom. Paulinsa Paulinsa gen. Paulinsa genitive Paulinsa Pauliensa partitive Pauliaan Pauliansa Paulejaan Paulejansa inessive Paulissaan Paulissansa Pauleissaan Pauleissansa elative Paulistaan Paulistansa Pauleistaan Pauleistansa illative Pauliinsa Pauleihinsa adessive Paulillaan Paulillansa Pauleillaan Pauleillansa ablative Pauliltaan Pauliltansa Pauleiltaan Pauleiltansa allative Paulilleen Paulillensa Pauleilleen Pauleillensa essive Paulinaan Paulinansa Pauleinaan Pauleinansa translative Paulikseen Pauliksensa Pauleikseen Pauleiksensa abessive Paulittaan Paulittansa Pauleittaan Pauleittansa instructive — — comitative — Pauleineen Pauleinensa

Statistics

• Paul is the 273^rd most common male given name in Finland, belonging to 1,744 male individuals (and as a middle name to 1,603 more), according to August 2025 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.

Anagrams

• lupa, pula

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔl/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Proper noun

Paul m

1. Paul (biblical figure)
2. a male given name

Derived terms

• attacher Pierre avec Paul
• déshabiller Paul pour habiller Jean
• déshabiller Pierre pour habiller Paul
• Popaul

Related terms

• Jean-Paul
• female given names: Paule, Paulette, Pauline, Marie-Paule

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: Pòl

Anagrams

• palu, Pula

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Paulus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paʊ̯l/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Proper noun

Paul m (proper noun, strong, genitive Pauls)

1. a male given name from Latin, feminine equivalent Paula, Paulina, or Pauline, equivalent to English Paul

Related terms

• biblical form: Paulus

Italian

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English Paul.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpol/
• Rhymes: -ol

Proper noun

Paul m or f by sense

1. a male given name and surname in English

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German Paul.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpawl/
• Rhymes: -awl
• Hyphenation: Pàul

Proper noun

Paul m or f by sense

1. a male given name and surname in German

Etymology 3

Borrowed from French Paul.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpol/, (careful style) /ˈpɔl/
• Rhymes: -ol, (careful style) -ɔl

Proper noun

Paul m

1. a male given name in French

Norwegian

Proper noun

Paul m (feminine Paula)

1. a male given name

Related terms

• Pål

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpawl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -awl
• Syllabification: Paul

Proper noun

Paul m pers

1. a male surname

Declension

Declension of Paul

	singular	plural
nominative	Paul	Paulowie
genitive	Paula	Paulów
dative	Paulowi	Paulom
accusative	Paula	Paulów
instrumental	Paulem	Paulami
locative	Paulu	Paulach
vocative	Paulu	Paulowie

Proper noun

Paul f (indeclinable)

1. a female surname

Derived terms

• Paulowa
• Paulówna

See also

• Appendix:Polish surnames

Swedish

Alternative forms

• Pål

Etymology

Clipping of Latin Paulus. Cognate with English Paul.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpa͜ʊl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Paul c (genitive Pauls)

1. a male given name

Related terms

• (biblical): Paulus
• (female given names): Paula, Paulina

References

• Paul in Nomina | Historiska museet.

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English Paul, from Latin Paulus. Doublet of Pablo, Paolo, and Paulo.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈpol/ [ˈpol]
• Rhymes: -ol
• Syllabification: Paul

Proper noun

Paul (Baybayin spelling ᜉᜓᜎ᜔)

1. a male given name from English [in turn from Latin]

Welsh

Etymology

Latin Paulus. Doublet of Pawl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pau̯l/
• Rhymes: -au̯l

Proper noun

Paul m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Paul

Mutation

Mutated forms of Paul

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
Paul	Baul	Mhaul	Phaul

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.