Paula
Paula is ranked 753rd among girls in 2024 (374 births). Its best rank was 38th, in 1954.
- Rank in 2024
- #753down 46 from 2023
- Births in 2024
- 3740.02% of girls
- Peak year
- 196310,151 births
- Best rank
- #38in 1954
- Since 1880
- 280,537people given the name
The story in the numbers
280,537 girls have been named Paula in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1963, with 10,151 births — 0.53% of all girls recorded that year.
The name has all but left use: 374 births in 2024, against 10,151 at the peak.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1959, and the 1950s alone account for 30%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 32 of them in the top 100.
Rank among girls, year by year
By decade
| Decade | girls named Paula | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 178 | |
| 1890s | 424 | |
| 1900s | 666 | |
| 1910s | 2,022 | |
| 1920s | 4,554 | |
| 1930s | 8,861 | |
| 1940s | 39,045 | |
| 1950s | 84,869 | |
| 1960s | 80,511 | |
| 1970s | 32,725 | |
| 1980s | 11,073 | |
| 1990s | 6,330 | |
| 2000s | 4,176 | |
| 2010s | 3,310 | |
| 2020s | 1,793 |
In 1963, its biggest year
Paula was the 42nd most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1963 were Lisa, Mary, Susan, Karen and Linda. See all of 1963.
Names that rose and fell with Paula
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Sheilapeak 1962
- Cathleenpeak 1958
- Gaylapeak 1954
- Sherrypeak 1962
- Ronnapeak 1963
- Dorindapeak 1957
- Lynnpeak 1956
- Pamalapeak 1958
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.