Paulette
Paulette was given to 138 girls in 2025, #1,536 among girls’ names; 47,152 Americans have been recorded with it since 1907 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 35,400 Americans named Paulette and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (75% of everyone recorded); the median is 71 years old and half are between 59 and 77.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Paulette by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Paulette mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Paulette is “a female given name from French.”
Borrowed in the twentieth century from French Paulette, a diminutive feminine form of Paul.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Paulette?
#1,536 among girls’ names, 2025
Paulette rose from #2,054 in 2015 to #1,536 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 53.8 to 85.9 per million.
2,586 babies in 1948, the peak
Paulette peaked in 1948, when 2,586 babies were given it (2,579 girls, #123 among girls’ names). The 138 births of 2025 are 5% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 138 | #1,536 | 0.09 |
| 2024 | 159 | #1,412 | 0.10 |
| 2023 | 135 | #1,576 | 0.08 |
| 2022 | 131 | #1,620 | 0.08 |
| 2021 | 127 | #1,649 | 0.08 |
| 2020 | 124 | #1,664 | 0.08 |
| 2019 | 131 | #1,625 | 0.08 |
| 2018 | 101 | #1,963 | 0.06 |
| 2017 | 70 | #2,537 | 0.04 |
| 2016 | 78 | #2,408 | 0.04 |
Every recorded year (114)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 96 | #2,054 | 0.05 |
| 2014 | 84 | #2,253 | 0.05 |
| 2013 | 95 | #2,048 | 0.05 |
| 2012 | 85 | #2,228 | 0.05 |
| 2011 | 130 | #1,650 | 0.07 |
| 2010 | 140 | #1,573 | 0.08 |
| 2009 | 45 | #3,605 | 0.02 |
| 2008 | 46 | #3,571 | 0.02 |
| 2007 | 61 | #2,961 | 0.03 |
| 2006 | 33 | #4,438 | 0.02 |
| 2005 | 35 | #4,091 | 0.02 |
| 2004 | 30 | #4,578 | 0.02 |
| 2003 | 41 | #3,505 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 37 | #3,637 | 0.02 |
| 2001 | 31 | #4,082 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 44 | #3,151 | 0.02 |
| 1999 | 32 | #3,771 | 0.02 |
| 1998 | 56 | #2,483 | 0.03 |
| 1997 | 66 | #2,125 | 0.04 |
| 1996 | 80 | #1,832 | 0.05 |
| 1995 | 61 | #2,206 | 0.03 |
| 1994 | 79 | #1,817 | 0.04 |
| 1993 | 94 | #1,618 | 0.05 |
| 1992 | 100 | #1,559 | 0.05 |
| 1991 | 112 | #1,431 | 0.06 |
| 1990 | 112 | #1,415 | 0.06 |
| 1989 | 153 | #1,095 | 0.08 |
| 1988 | 144 | #1,094 | 0.08 |
| 1987 | 88 | #1,480 | 0.05 |
| 1986 | 90 | #1,430 | 0.05 |
| 1985 | 109 | #1,255 | 0.06 |
| 1984 | 120 | #1,141 | 0.07 |
| 1983 | 99 | #1,262 | 0.06 |
| 1982 | 126 | #1,122 | 0.07 |
| 1981 | 142 | #1,021 | 0.09 |
| 1980 | 156 | #953 | 0.09 |
| 1979 | 158 | #937 | 0.10 |
| 1978 | 210 | #742 | 0.14 |
| 1977 | 190 | #790 | 0.12 |
| 1976 | 182 | #786 | 0.12 |
| 1975 | 252 | #627 | 0.17 |
| 1974 | 312 | #541 | 0.21 |
| 1973 | 385 | #473 | 0.26 |
| 1972 | 466 | #417 | 0.31 |
| 1971 | 680 | #357 | 0.41 |
| 1970 | 805 | #328 | 0.46 |
| 1969 | 638 | #366 | 0.38 |
| 1968 | 629 | #355 | 0.38 |
| 1967 | 701 | #331 | 0.42 |
| 1966 | 690 | #338 | 0.41 |
| 1965 | 707 | #343 | 0.40 |
| 1964 | 838 | #326 | 0.44 |
| 1963 | 858 | #321 | 0.45 |
| 1962 | 741 | #348 | 0.38 |
| 1961 | 774 | #338 | 0.38 |
| 1960 | 854 | #322 | 0.42 |
| 1959 | 956 | #294 | 0.47 |
| 1958 | 1,068 | #268 | 0.53 |
| 1957 | 1,092 | #263 | 0.53 |
| 1956 | 1,234 | #234 | 0.61 |
| 1955 | 1,298 | #225 | 0.66 |
| 1954 | 1,485 | #208 | 0.76 |
| 1953 | 1,763 | #178 | 0.94 |
| 1952 | 1,886 | #163 | 1.0 |
| 1951 | 2,148 | #148 | 1.2 |
| 1950 | 1,953 | #151 | 1.1 |
| 1949 | 2,553 | #125 | 1.5 |
| 1948 | 2,579 | #123 | 1.5 |
| 1947 | 2,334 | #134 | 1.3 |
| 1946 | 2,520 | #117 | 1.6 |
| 1945 | 1,575 | #148 | 1.2 |
| 1944 | 1,438 | #164 | 1.1 |
| 1943 | 1,440 | #166 | 1.0 |
| 1942 | 963 | #211 | 0.71 |
| 1941 | 277 | #413 | 0.23 |
| 1940 | 223 | #452 | 0.20 |
| 1939 | 100 | #679 | 0.09 |
| 1938 | 81 | #782 | 0.07 |
| 1937 | 68 | #840 | 0.06 |
| 1936 | 82 | #737 | 0.08 |
| 1935 | 55 | #944 | 0.05 |
| 1934 | 46 | #1,030 | 0.04 |
| 1933 | 54 | #931 | 0.05 |
| 1932 | 48 | #1,029 | 0.04 |
| 1931 | 33 | #1,275 | 0.03 |
| 1930 | 24 | #1,649 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 27 | #1,515 | 0.02 |
| 1928 | 34 | #1,331 | 0.03 |
| 1927 | 37 | #1,326 | 0.03 |
| 1926 | 37 | #1,299 | 0.03 |
| 1925 | 30 | #1,529 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 31 | #1,526 | 0.02 |
| 1923 | 30 | #1,513 | 0.02 |
| 1922 | 28 | #1,603 | 0.02 |
| 1921 | 33 | #1,431 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 27 | #1,619 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 14 | #2,479 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 14 | #2,482 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 13 | #2,519 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 9 | #3,202 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 7 | #3,710 | 0.01 |
| 1913 | 13 | #1,741 | 0.02 |
| 1910 | 6 | #2,348 | 0.02 |
| 1907 | 5 | #2,311 | 0.02 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Paulette a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Paulette has been given almost only to girls: 65 boys in 114 years of records.
Girls and boys named Paulette: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Paulette, and how old are they?
35,400 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 75% of the 47,152 Americans ever recorded as Paulette. The median Paulette alive today is 71 years old; half are between 59 and 77.
The 2020 Census counted 39,212 people named Paulette (39,175 women and girls, 37 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 38,186 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 3,310 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 21,500 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 6,570 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,660 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 903 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,460 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Paulette born?
The states with the most babies named Paulette are New York, California and Pennsylvania, with 24% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 3,889 | #2,339 | 1.0× |
| California | 3,872 | #1,141 | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 2,938 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 2,842 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 2,220 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Texas | 2,177 | #897 | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 2,117 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Louisiana | 1,764 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| Minnesota | 1,236 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| North Carolina | 1,231 | not ranked | 0.9× |
Where Paulette is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Paulette is most over-represented in North Dakota: since 1910 it was given 2.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Paulette with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 3 names spelled alike, given to 49,856 babies since 1880, Paulette is the most given (95% of them). In 2025 it was given to 138 of their 138 babies (100%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Paulette
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Paulette and names like it
- Compare Paulette and PaulettaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1940sPaulette peaked in 1948.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Paulette since 1910.
- French namesWiktionary’s origin for Paulette: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1948The year the most babies were named Paulette.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Paulette alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with PMost given first.