Paulette
A feminine French diminutive form of the name Paul, derived from the Latin Paulus meaning "small".
Name Census estimates that about 31,587 living Americans carry the first name Paulette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Paulette today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Paulette births was 1948 (2,586 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Paulette. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Paulette with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Paulette is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 65 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1940s, recent registration numbers for Paulette have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
32K
~ 1 in 10,851 Americans
Peak year
1948
2,586 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1964 SSA rank
#1,410
Tracked since 1907
Census
Paulette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 39,208 people with the first name Paulette, which placed it at #1,062 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,062
National first-name rank
People counted
39K
39,208 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
13.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Paulette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Paulette is White at 60.0%. The next largest groups are Black (29.9%) and Hispanic (5.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Paulette described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Paulette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.0% · 23,511
- Black or African American29.9% · 11,706
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 2,332
- Two or more races2.2% · 858
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 465
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 336
Gender
Gender distribution for Paulette
Out of the 47,012 babies given the name Paulette since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Paulette as a male name
- Ranked #4,468 in 1964
- 5 male births in 1964
- Peak: 1946 (9 births)
Paulette as a female name
- Ranked #1,410 in 2024
- 158 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1948 (2,579 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Paulette appears almost entirely female. Of the 39,212 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Paulette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Paulette from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 15,942 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Paulette by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Paulette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Paulettes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Paulette, while Wyoming, Delaware, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 891 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Paulette
Paulette is a French feminine diminutive form of the name Paula, which is derived from the ancient Roman family name Paulius or Paulus. The name Paulus can be traced back to the Latin word "paulus," meaning "small" or "humble." The name's origins can be traced back to the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire periods.
The name Paulette first appeared in medieval France, where it was a popular name among the nobility and upper classes. It was a common practice during that time to create diminutive forms of names by adding the suffix "-ette" to the root name. This practice was particularly prevalent in France and other parts of Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Paulette can be found in the records of the French royal court during the 13th century. It is believed that the name was used by members of the French aristocracy and may have been associated with a particular noble family or families.
In terms of historical figures, one notable bearer of the name Paulette was Paulette Duval (1619-1683), a French playwright and novelist who was part of the literary circle known as the "Précieuses." She wrote several plays and novels that were popular during her lifetime and helped shape the development of French literature in the 17th century.
Another notable Paulette was Paulette Goddard (1910-1990), an American actress who achieved fame in the 1930s and 1940s. She starred in several successful films, including "Modern Times" (1936) and "The Great Dictator" (1940), both of which were directed by Charlie Chaplin, with whom she had a long-term relationship.
In the world of fashion, Paulette Fallaise (1935-2022) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman who founded the luxury fashion brand Paulette. She was known for her elegant and sophisticated designs, which were popular among the French elite and celebrities.
Paulette McDonough (1901-1978) was an American silent film actress and dancer who appeared in several popular films during the 1920s. She was known for her comedic roles and her talent as a dancer.
Paulette Godard (1923-2000) was a French actress and singer who had a successful career in both film and music. She appeared in numerous French films during the 1950s and 1960s and also released several popular albums.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Paulette
People
Paulette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Paulette as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Paulette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Paulette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 31,587 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Paulette going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 10,851 US residents.
Is Paulette a common name?
We classify Paulette as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 47,012 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Paulette most popular?
The single biggest year for Paulette was 1948, when 2,586 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Paulette is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Paulette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 39,208 people with the name Paulette, or 12.98 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,062 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Paulette in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Paulette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Paulette appears almost entirely female. Of the 39,212 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Paulette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Paulette is White at 60.0%. The next largest groups are Black (29.9%) and Hispanic (5.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Paulette most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Paulette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.0% (23,511 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Paulette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Paulette a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Paulette in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Paulette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Paulette in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Paulette can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Paulette?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.