Paola
A Latin name meaning "small, humble", it reached Poland by way of Italian and Spanish. Only about 430 women here carry it and none were born last year, so most Poles have never met one.
Paola Pronunciation
Paola is pronounced pah-O-lah (/paˈɔla/).
What Paola means
Where Paola comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Paola grew out of the Latin name Paulus, a Roman family name that meant small or humble. In Italian it stands as the feminine of Paolo, and it settled just as firmly into Spanish. The Latin sense stayed near: mała, pokorna.
The name is old. Documented bearers make it easy to place. Paola Ruffo di Calabria, born in 1937, became Queen of the Belgians, an Italian who carried an Italian name into a northern court. The origin traveled with her, unchanged since Roman days, when Paulus marked someone of small stature or modest standing rather than anything grand.
In a Polish class register Paola sits among the Pauls and Paulas, all of them reaching back to the same Latin root. Popularity may rise and fall, but the meaning holds. The name stays close to what it first said: small, humble.
How many people are named Paola
1 in 52306 women in Poland is named Paola. 431 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1426 among female names.
Paola's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been falling steadily since 2000.
Paola as a middle name
Paola is a first name for 431 women in Poland and a middle name for another 464, a 48/52 split, almost evenly. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 324th, between Carmen (464) and Erna (463).
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#322 Bernardeta465
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#323 Carmen464
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#324 Paola464
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#325 Erna463
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#326 Gerda463