Meaning of the namePaulo
- Male
- Latin origin
- Pau-lo
- Biblical name
Paulo is a masculine name of Latin origin, from Paulus, a Roman cognomen meaning 'small', also used in the New Testament.
- People (2022)
- 1,331,639
- Rank in Brazil
- #11
- Median age
- 42 years
- 2010 Census
- 1,423,262
- people
Paulo in the 2022 Census
People with the first name Paulo, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1970s (247,801 people).
5,417 women 1,326,222 men
Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.
Where the name Paulo is most common
States with the highest share of people named Paulo in the population, in the 2022 Census.
- Rio Grande do Sul 0.877%
- Rio de Janeiro 0.853%
- Minas Gerais 0.686%
- Pará 0.673%
- São Paulo 0.672%
All states
| State | People | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| São Paulo | 298,582 | 0.672% |
| Minas Gerais | 140,855 | 0.686% |
| Rio de Janeiro | 137,022 | 0.853% |
| Rio Grande do Sul | 95,452 | 0.877% |
| Paraná | 75,856 | 0.663% |
| Bahia | 73,883 | 0.523% |
| Ceará | 57,040 | 0.649% |
| Pará | 54,616 | 0.673% |
| Pernambuco | 52,780 | 0.583% |
| Goiás | 46,733 | 0.662% |
| Santa Catarina | 42,502 | 0.559% |
| Maranhão | 36,749 | 0.542% |
| Espírito Santo | 25,295 | 0.660% |
| Amazonas | 22,657 | 0.575% |
| Mato Grosso | 22,608 | 0.618% |
| Paraíba | 19,625 | 0.494% |
| Rio Grande do Norte | 18,844 | 0.571% |
| Distrito Federal | 18,484 | 0.656% |
| Mato Grosso do Sul | 17,871 | 0.648% |
| Piauí | 16,932 | 0.518% |
| Alagoas | 16,623 | 0.532% |
| Sergipe | 10,454 | 0.473% |
| Rondônia | 9,463 | 0.599% |
| Tocantins | 8,859 | 0.586% |
| Amapá | 4,589 | 0.625% |
| Acre | 4,324 | 0.521% |
| Roraima | 2,941 | 0.462% |
States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.
About the name Paulo
Wiktionary traces Paulo from Latin Paulus, a cognomen of the Roman family of the Aemilii, derived from paulus, 'small'. Behind the Name gives the same meaning, 'small' in Latin, and lists Paulo and the diminutive Paulinho among the Portuguese forms of Paul. It is the name of the apostle Paulo in the New Testament. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 1,331,639 people named Paulo, with a median age of 42; proportionally, the name is most common in Rio Grande do Sul.
Sources
- Wiktionary: Paulo · en.wiktionary.org · origin
- Wiktionary: Paulus · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
- Behind the Name: Paul · behindthename.com · meaning
Questions about the name Paulo
What does the name Paulo mean?
Paulo means “small”, according to Wiktionary and Behind the Name.
How many people are named Paulo in Brazil?
IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 1,331,639 people with the first name Paulo, which ranks it number 11 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1970s.
Is Paulo a boy's or a girl's name?
Paulo is a male name: in the 2022 Census, 5,417 women and 1,326,222 men had this name.
What is the origin of the name Paulo?
Paulo is a name of Latin origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.
In which Brazilian state is Paulo most common?
Proportionally, in Rio Grande do Sul: 0.877% of the state's population is named Paulo (95,452 people), according to the 2022 Census.
More names of Latin origin
See all- Francisco♂French1,665,494 people
- Marcos♂Probably derived from the name of the Roman god Mars1,082,739 people
- Fábio♂From Fabius, a Roman family name linked to faba, 'bean'499,773 people
- Vítor♂Winner489,038 people
- Victor♂Winner, conqueror365,171 people
- Tiago♂Derived from Jacob (Yaʿaqov), generally understood as 'one who holds…363,388 people
- Luciano♂Derived from Lucius, linked to lux, 'light'309,017 people
- Adriano♂From Hadria, a city in Italy306,398 people
Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Paulo with a source. See the methodology.