Given name & surname
Pau
“staff”
Pau is a masculine given name from Latin. It is used in Catalan.
Original LatinPaulus
Meaning & origin
How it developed
In Catalan usage, Pau developed from Paulus.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1989. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Pau through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 454
- 431 boys · 23 girls
- Most popular year
- 2018
- 41 babies
- 2025
- 19
- #6,353 for boys · #16,672 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −30%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 14 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 6,353 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 31.8% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 41 in 2018. It also appeared in 5 birth records for girls in 2025. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,876 as a first name in 2020; 1,280 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Pau’s family of names
Pau shares a linguistic root with Paul. In Catalan usage, Pau has a conventional equivalent in the Polish form Paweł. In Catalan usage, Pau has a conventional equivalent in the English form Paul.
The ring: across languages.
Around the world
Pau has relatives in 9 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
Latinwhere Pau comes from · 1 name
Across languages 32
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Paulusroot · Latin
- Paulcognate · English, German
- PabloSpanish
- Pauloequivalent
- Paoloequivalent
- Pavelequivalent
- Paulinoequivalent
- Pavloequivalent
Show 24 moreShow fewer
- Pavleequivalent
- Poulequivalent
- Pavlosequivalent
- Pauliequivalent
- Paulosequivalent
- Pawelequivalent
- Παύλοςequivalent
- Paolequivalent
- Pavolequivalent
- Boghosequivalent
- Paavoequivalent
- 保羅Chinese
- ПавелRussian
- PawełPolish
- Павлоequivalent
- Պողոսequivalent
- Pállequivalent
- Pålequivalent
- Павлеequivalent
- Povilasequivalent
- Pálequivalent
- ПоRussian
- ポーJapanese
- PaŭoEsperanto
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Pau
- Pablo CasalsSpanish cellist, conductor and composer (1876–1973)
- Pau GasolSpanish basketball player (born 1980)
- Pau CubarsíSpanish footballer (born 2007)
- Pau TorresSpanish association football playerborn 1997
- Pau LópezSpanish association football playerborn 1994
- Pau Claris i CasademuntCatalan politician1586–1641
- Pau VíctorSpanish soccer playerborn 2001
- Pablo GargalloSpanish sculptor and painter (1881-1934)
- Pau EchanizSpanish kayakerborn 2001
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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