Girls' name · since 1880

Paulina

20,137 babies named Paulina in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 2002. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

#1,062 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#783 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
20,137
born since 1880
2000s
peak decade

20,137 babies have been named Paulina since 1880, making it today's #783 girls' name.

Paulina has 20,137 recorded births among girls since 1880, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #783 as of the latest data, more common than 95% of girls, busiest in the 2000s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.

  • #1,062 of 72,339 all-time among girls
  • #783 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
  • 20,137 born since 1880
  • 2000s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Paulina ranks #1,062 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #783 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 20,137 born since 1880, peaking in the 2000s.

#1,062 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#783 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
20,137
born since 1880
2000s
peak decade
0%100%Median name50%95.4%
Paulina vs. every other girls name in current SSA rankings
Upper archive tier
All-time archive position

Paulina's 20,137 recorded births place it above 98.53% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.

34 jurisdictions
State-record footprint

34 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by California.

How Paulina compares

20,137 Top 7% higher than 93% of 17,297 names currently given to girls

Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data

How the numbers stack up

Paulina's all-time total is 54x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.

Metric Paulina Median girls name (Kyann) #1 girls name (Olivia)
All-time total births 20,137 376 567,345
Peak-year births 822 21 19,840

Paulina's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Divide Paulina's SSA record in two at 1953 and the more recent half accounts for 93% of all births, the earlier half the remaining 7%, consistent with a name still gaining ground rather than fading. Its calmest year was 1885, with only 5 births recorded -- set against the 2002 peak of 822, that's the full swing in one name's fortunes.

Paulina popularity over time - girls

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025

Top 1,000 girls' name
Peak year (2002)
822
Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
02004006008001,000 188018991918193719561975199420132025 346

Paulina popularity over time - boys

5 total births recorded since 1999 (Paulina as boys' name)

Unisex variant - 5 births
5 1999 5

Paulina by decade

2000s is the heaviest window (6,562 births, 33% of the file).

2000s was Paulina's strongest decade.

6,562 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 33% of all-time use.

Paulina births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 2000s at 6,562 births (33% of all-time use).

Source U.S. Social Security Administration · Baby Names As of August 2026

How Paulina compares to similarly-sized names

Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Paulina's total volume

Paulina vs 15 similarly-sized girls names Scatter plot of 16 data points. 0%2%4%6%8% 050100150200 New & already peakedOld name, single-era peakNew & still diversifyingLong history, steady all along Years in SSA records % of total births in the single peak year -142, 2.8%-112, 6.3%-146, 2.2%-146, 6%-134, 3.3%-63, 6.9%-65, 4.5%-48, 5.8%-75, 7.5%-146, 4.9%-87, 2.8%-146, 1.6%-100, 5.9%-112, 6.3%-123, 2.2%Paulina-146, 4.1%Paulina
Paulina vs 15 similarly-sized girls names

Paulina by state

Where Paulina concentrates geographically, total births since 1880

Regionally concentrated
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Paulina
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
5,831 29.0%
#2 Texas
3,755 18.6%
#3 Illinois
987 4.9%
#4 New York
939 4.7%
#5 Florida
917 4.6%
#6 Arizona
862 4.3%
#7 New Jersey
381 1.9%
#8 Georgia
292 1.5%
California share of Paulina's total US births 29.0%
Even split

5,831 of 20,137 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 34 reporting states.

Paulina appears in 34 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Paulina?
20,137 babies have been named Paulina since 1880. All-time, it sits at #1,062 of 72,339 girls' names by recorded births. In 2025, it ranks #783 of 17,297 among girls. The peak year was 2002 with 822 births.
Where does Paulina sit in the SSA name archive?
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Paulina ranks #1,062 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #783 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. All-time ordinal matches browse popularity (total births DESC); the current ordinal uses the 2025 SSA file. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
When was Paulina most popular?
Paulina was most popular in the 2000s decade with 6,562 total births. The single peak year was 2002.
Where is Paulina most popular?
The top states for the name Paulina are California (5,831 births), Texas (3,755 births), Illinois (987 births).
How long has the name Paulina been used?
The SSA has tracked Paulina since 1880 -- 146 years through the most recent 2025 data.
What names are similar to Paulina?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Paula, Pauline, Paulette, Paul, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

What to do with Paulina's data

  • Paulina's decade-level peak was the 2000s (6,562 total births); usage has since declined to 2,111 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
  • California records the most Paulinas (5,831 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. California names

Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.

Keep exploring Paulina

Nearby Names Like Paulina

Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Paulina

Names with a similar popularity rank to Paulina

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Paulina: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.

Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.

Data Sources

Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Paulina draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.