Paulino
A masculine name of Spanish origin meaning "little Paul" or "the little one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,416 living Americans carry the first name Paulino. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Paulino today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Paulino births was 1995 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Paulino. 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.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 242,058 Americans
Peak year
1995
37 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,814
Tracked since 1914
Census
Paulino in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,664 people with the first name Paulino, which placed it at #4,124 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
#4,124
National first-name rank
People counted
4.7K
4,664 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
87.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Paulino
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Paulino is Hispanic at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (8.3%) and White (2.4%). 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 Paulino 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 Paulino at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino87.5% · 4,083
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.3% · 389
- White2.4% · 111
- Black or African American1.1% · 50
- Two or more races0.4% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 13
Popularity
Paulino: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Paulino from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 261 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Paulino remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Paulino 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 Paulino during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Paulinos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, Hawaii recorded the most babies named Paulino, while New York, Hawaii, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 200 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Paulino
Paulino is a masculine given name with origins dating back to ancient Rome. It is derived from the Latin name Paulus, which means "small" or "humble." The name Paulus was a common Roman family name, and it is believed that the name Paulino emerged as a diminutive form of this name.
The name Paulino gained popularity in the early Christian era, as it was the name of several early Christian saints and martyrs. One of the most notable figures with this name was Saint Paulinus of Nola, a 5th-century bishop and poet from modern-day Italy. He is known for his eloquent writings and his dedication to charitable works.
Another significant figure in the history of the name Paulino was Paulinus II, a 9th-century Patriarch of Aquileia. He played a crucial role in the Christianization of the Slavic peoples and is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church.
During the Middle Ages, the name Paulino was widespread throughout Europe, particularly in regions with strong Christian traditions. One notable bearer of the name was Paulino of Aquileia, a 9th-century scholar and theologian who contributed to the development of Carolingian Renaissance literature.
In the Renaissance period, the name Paulino was associated with several influential figures in the arts and sciences. Paulino da Venezia was a 15th-century Italian painter known for his religious works, while Paulino Garro was a 16th-century Spanish mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the understanding of planetary motion.
Over the centuries, the name Paulino has also been borne by several notable writers and poets. Paulino de la Barca was a 17th-century Spanish dramatist and poet, while Paulino Lisboa was a 19th-century Brazilian poet and abolitionist who fought against slavery.
People
Paulino + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Paulino 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
Paulino: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Paulino?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,416 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Paulino 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 242,058 US residents.
Is Paulino a common name?
We classify Paulino as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,776 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Paulino most popular?
The single biggest year for Paulino was 1995, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Paulino is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Paulino in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,664 people with the name Paulino, or 1.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,124 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 Paulino 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 Paulino?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Paulino leans strongly male. 4,619 people counted with this name were male (99.0%), compared with 49 female bearers (1.0%). 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 Paulino?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Paulino is Hispanic at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (8.3%) and White (2.4%). 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 Paulino most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Paulino in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.5% (4,083 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 Paulino in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Paulino a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Paulino in the SSA data are male. 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 Paulino still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Paulino 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 Paulino 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 Paulino?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.