Pawel
A masculine Polish name derived from the Latin name Paulus meaning "small" or "humble".
Name Census estimates that about 438 living Americans carry the first name Pawel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Pawel today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pawel births was 1994 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pawel. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Pawel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
438
~ 1 in 782,544 Americans
Peak year
1994
29 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2016 SSA rank
#10,449
Tracked since 1980
Census
Pawel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,869 people with the first name Pawel, which placed it at #4,699 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,699
National first-name rank
People counted
3.9K
3,869 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
99.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pawel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pawel is White at 99.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Pawel described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Pawel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White99.3% · 3,841
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 7
- Black or African American0.1% · 5
- Two or more races0.0% · 1
Popularity
Pawel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pawel from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 204 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pawel by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Pawel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pawels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Illinois, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Pawel, while New Jersey, New York, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 74 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Pawel
The name Pawel has its origins in the Polish language and culture. It is the Polish form of the name Paul, which is derived from the Latin name Paulus. The name Paulus is believed to have originated from the Roman family name Paulli, which was a patronymic name meaning "little one" or "small."
The name Paul gained significant importance in Christianity as it was the name given to the apostle who was originally known as Saul of Tarsus. After his conversion to Christianity, he took the name Paul and became one of the most influential figures in the early Christian church.
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul is mentioned extensively in several books, including the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles attributed to him. His writings and teachings played a crucial role in shaping the doctrines and practices of early Christianity.
The earliest recorded use of the name Pawel in Poland dates back to the 10th century. It became particularly popular in the country after the Christianization of Poland in the 10th and 11th centuries, as the name was associated with the revered apostle Paul.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Pawel. One of the most famous was Pawel Wlodkowic (c. 1370-1435), a Polish scholar, diplomat, and rector of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He is renowned for his defense of the rights of non-Christians and his contributions to international law.
Another significant figure was Pawel Jasienica (1909-1970), a Polish historian and writer who authored numerous books on Polish history and culture. His works were widely read and influential in shaping the public's understanding of Poland's past.
Pawel Edelman (1925-2022) was a Polish-Jewish writer and linguist who survived the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during World War II. He wrote extensively about his experiences during the Holocaust and was a prominent figure in preserving the memory of the Jewish community in Poland.
Pawel Strzelecki (1797-1873) was a Polish explorer and geologist who made significant contributions to the exploration and mapping of Australia. He is credited with naming the Snowy Mountains and Mount Kosciuszko, among other discoveries.
Pawel Kurtyka (1960-1988) was a renowned Polish mountaineer and rock climber who achieved numerous first ascents and difficult climbs in the Himalayas and other mountain ranges. He tragically lost his life during an expedition in Pakistan at the young age of 28.
People
Pawel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pawel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pawel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pawel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 438 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pawel going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 782,544 US residents.
Is Pawel a common name?
We classify Pawel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 449 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pawel most popular?
The single biggest year for Pawel was 1994, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pawel is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pawel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,869 people with the name Pawel, or 1.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,699 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Pawel in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Pawel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pawel appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,875 people counted with this name, 99.9% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Pawel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pawel is White at 99.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Pawel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Pawel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.3% (3,841 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Pawel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pawel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pawel in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Pawel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pawel in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Pawel can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Pawel?
You can see how many people have the name Pawel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.