Paulina
Feminine form of the Latin name Paulinus, derived from Paulus meaning "small" or "humble".
Name Census estimates that about 17,984 living Americans carry the first name Paulina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Paulina today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Paulina births was 2002 (822 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Paulina. 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 Paulina with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
18K
~ 1 in 19,059 Americans
Peak year
2002
822 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
1999 SSA rank
#781
Tracked since 1880
Census
Paulina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 26,124 people with the first name Paulina, which placed it at #1,364 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
#1,364
National first-name rank
People counted
26K
26,124 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
70.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Paulina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Paulina is Hispanic at 70.2%. The next largest groups are White (20.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.8%). 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 Paulina 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 Paulina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino70.2% · 18,347
- White20.4% · 5,329
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 1,260
- Black or African American3.3% · 861
- Two or more races0.9% · 244
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 83
Gender
Gender distribution for Paulina
Out of the 19,795 babies given the name Paulina since 1880, 100.0% 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.
Paulina as a male name
- Ranked #11,156 in 1999
- 5 male births in 1999
- Peak: 1999 (5 births)
Paulina as a female name
- Ranked #781 in 2024
- 361 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2002 (822 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Paulina appears almost entirely female. Of the 26,136 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Paulina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Paulina from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 6,562 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Paulina 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 Paulina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Paulinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Paulina, while Nebraska, Arkansas, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 469 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Paulina
Paulina is a feminine given name derived from the ancient Roman family name Paulinus, which is a derivative of the Latin name Paulus, meaning "small" or "humble". The name has its roots in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire, and was relatively common among both men and women during that time period.
The name Paulina can be traced back to the 1st century AD, when it was borne by several notable Roman women, including Paulina, the wife of the Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca the Younger. Another prominent figure was Pompeia Paulina, a wealthy Roman matron who lived during the reign of Emperor Nero in the 1st century AD.
In the early Christian era, the name Paulina gained popularity among followers of Christianity, as it was associated with the apostle Paul, one of the most influential figures in the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. Saint Paulina, a 4th-century Roman noblewoman and widow, was known for her charitable works and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
During the Middle Ages, the name Paulina remained in use, particularly in Italy and other parts of Europe influenced by Roman culture. One notable bearer of the name was Paulina de Leyva, a 16th-century Spanish noblewoman who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella of Portugal.
In the Renaissance period, the name Paulina was popularized by William Shakespeare's play "The Winter's Tale", in which one of the main characters is named Paulina. This literary reference helped to further establish the name's usage in English-speaking regions.
Other notable historical figures named Paulina include Paulina Musters (1876-1895), a Dutch painter and illustrator, and Paulina Longworth Sturm (1898-1935), an American socialite and philanthropist.
Throughout its long history, the name Paulina has been borne by individuals from various cultural backgrounds and has maintained its popularity across different regions and time periods, reflecting its enduring appeal and connection to the rich heritage of the ancient Roman world.
People
Paulina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Paulina 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
Paulina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Paulina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17,984 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Paulina 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 19,059 US residents.
Is Paulina a common name?
We classify Paulina as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 19,795 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Paulina most popular?
The single biggest year for Paulina was 2002, when 822 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Paulina is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Paulina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 26,124 people with the name Paulina, or 8.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,364 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 Paulina 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 Paulina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Paulina appears almost entirely female. Of the 26,136 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Paulina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Paulina is Hispanic at 70.2%. The next largest groups are White (20.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.8%). 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 Paulina most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Paulina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.2% (18,347 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 Paulina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Paulina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Paulina 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 Paulina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Paulina 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 Paulina 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 many people are called Paulina?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.