Paul comes from the Roman family name Paulus and means "small" or "humble". The apostle Paul, whose letters form much of the New Testament, made it one of the central Christian names, and six popes, Paul Revere, Paul Newman and Paul McCartney kept it in the public eye. Paul was a top 20 name in the United States for much of the 20th century; it stood at number 100 in 2000 and ranks number 262 among boys' names in 2025.