Paolo
An Italian name from the Latin for "small" and "humble." It stays rare in Poland: fewer than 500 men carry it, and hardly any boys are given it now.
Paolo Pronunciation
Paolo is pronounced pah-O-lo (/paˈɔlɔ/).
What Paolo means
Where Paolo comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Paolo begins in Latin, in the cognomen Paulus, which meant small or humble. Roman families handed it down as a marker, a way of naming the little one. The Italian form kept the sound almost whole and kept the meaning too: small, humble.
That meaning runs against the grain. Many names reach for strength or light. Paolo asks for less.
The most famous bearer leaned into it. Saul of Tarsus took the Roman name Paulus and wrote of himself as the least of the apostles, a man made small so the message could be large. Italy filled with churches under his patronage, and the name spread with them, from Venice to Palermo.
On a Polish class register the name arrives as a guest, the southern cousin of Paweł, and children learn to say it with the stress on the middle. It still means what it meant in Rome: small, humble.
How many people are named Paolo
1 in 44013 men in Poland is named Paolo. 485 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1335 among male names.
Paolo's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 boys were given the name in 2025. It has been falling steadily since 2000.
Paolo as a middle name
Paolo is a first name for 485 men in Poland and a middle name for another 161, a 75/25 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 549th, between Antony (161) and Robin (161).
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#547 Telesfor163
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#548 Antony161
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#549 Paolo161
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#550 Robin161
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#551 Ernst160