Paul

Paul derives from the Latin family name Paulus, meaning small or humble, itself of uncertain earlier origin though long established in Roman usage. The name is most closely associated with Saint Paul the Apostle, born Saul of Tarsus, whose missionary journeys and epistles shaped early Christianity and made the name enormously influential throughout Europe. It spread widely across Western and Northern Europe through ecclesiastical and royal use, giving rise to cognates such as Paolo, Pablo, Pavel, Pål, and Pol. Paula and Pauline are the principal feminine forms derived from the same Latin root.