Find out how popular the last name Pauli is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Pauli.

Pauli, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Pauli surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pauli in America

Pauli is the 14248th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pauli surname appeared 2,104 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Pauli.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pauli to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Pauli

The surname Pauli originates from Italy, where it first emerged in the 13th century. It is derived from the Latin word "paulus," meaning "small" or "little." The name was initially used as a nickname for a person of short stature or a younger son.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Pauli surname can be found in a Florentine document from the year 1283, which mentions a certain "Paulino Pauli." This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region by that time.

In the 14th century, the name Pauli began appearing in various Italian cities, such as Venice, Siena, and Bologna. It was particularly common among members of the merchant and artisan classes, as well as within the ranks of the clergy.

A notable figure bearing the Pauli surname was the Italian mathematician and astronomer Francesco Pauli (1471-1535), who made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the calculation of planetary orbits.

In the 16th century, the Pauli name spread beyond Italy's borders, with individuals bearing this surname being found in other parts of Europe. For instance, the German philosopher and theologian Petrus Paulus (1540-1617) was a prominent figure during the Protestant Reformation.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Pauli surname continued to be widely represented across various regions of Italy. One notable individual from this period was the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Pauli (1690-1768), who specialized in portraiture and religious scenes.

Another prominent bearer of the Pauli name was the Austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958), renowned for his work in quantum mechanics and his formulation of the Pauli exclusion principle, which plays a crucial role in our understanding of the behavior of subatomic particles.

The surname Pauli has also been associated with various place names throughout Italy, such as Paulilatino in Sardinia and Pauli Armerina in Sicily, which may have influenced the development and spread of the name.

While the Pauli surname has its roots in Italy, it has since been adopted by families in other parts of the world, including Germany, Austria, and various regions of the Americas, where Italian immigrants have settled over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pauli

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Pauli.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Pauli was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Pauli has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Pauli was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Pauli, please contact us.

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