Paulita vs Paulo
American parents have registered 5,031 Paulos since 1880, against 991 Paulitas. Paulo is still ahead, with 110 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Paulita Paulo
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 118 years in which either name was published, Paulo for 88 years and Paulita for 30 years. The lead changed hands 21 times.
- 1888–1920 Paulita ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1921–1925 Paulo ahead
- 1926–1928 Paulita ahead
- 1947–1951 Paulo ahead
- 1952–1961 Paulita ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1962–2025 Paulo ahead
14 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Paulita | Paulo | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 991 | 5,031 |
| Most in one year | 26 | 122 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 110 |
| Estimated living today | 580 | 4,400 |
| Median age today | 60 | 25 |
| Peak year | 1927 | 2006 |
| Best rank | 1,619th girls | 1,339th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 1,554th |
| First recorded | 1888 | 1913 |
| Girls / boys | 991 / 0 | 0 / 5,031 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Paulitas alive today are over 60; half the Paulos are over 25. That is 35 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Paulita Texas (12.6×)
- Paulo Texas (4.9×), California (3.4×), Massachusetts (2.9×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Paulita and Paulo.