Paul (name)

Paul the Apostle by El Greco
Pronunciation	/pɔːl/ French: [pol] German: [ˈpaʊl] Dutch: [ˈpʌu̯l]
Gender	Male
Name day	June 29
Meaning	"Small"; "humble"; "scarce"; "rare"

Paul ⁱ/pɔːl/ is a common masculine given name in countries and ethnicities with a Christian heritage (Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism) and, beyond Europe, in Christian religious communities throughout the world. Paul – or its variations – can be a given name or surname.

The name has existed since Roman times. It derives from the Roman family name Paulus or Paullus, from the Latin adjective meaning "small" or "humble" and is cognate to the modern English word few. During the Classical Age it was used to distinguish the minor of two people of the same family bearing the same name. The Roman patrician family of the Gens Aemilia included such prominent persons as Lucius Aemilius Paullus, Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus, Tertia Aemilia Paulla (the wife of Scipio Africanus), and Sergius Paulus.

Its prevalence in nations with a Christian heritage is primarily due to its attachment to Saint Paul the Apostle, whose Greek name was Παῦλος, Paûlos, a transliteration from the Latin, also carrying the "modest" meaning of this name. The name Paul is common, with variations, in all European languages (e.g. English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Dutch, Scandinavian, Greek, Russian, Georgian).

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