Paul: Name Meaning, Origin, and Bible Story. Dry earth becoming green garden as distant rain falls.

Name meaning

Paul: Meaning, Origin, and the Bible

Latin · small, or humble · Acts 13:9

Paul is a Latin name meaning small, or humble. In the Bible, the apostle to the nations bore this name. Below is its true meaning, its story, a verse that fits it, and a blessing.

In the Bible a name is never only a label. It carries a hope, a prayer, or a story, and again and again God Himself gives or changes a name to mark what He is doing in a life. So to ask what a name means is a good and old question, and it deserves an honest answer, not a guess. Here is the real meaning, where it comes from, and where it can lead.

What the name Paul means

The name Paul comes from Latin and means small, or humble. Names like this were chosen with care, often to remember what God had done or to speak a hope over a child, and the meaning has carried down through the generations to the families who give the name today.

Paul in the Bible

Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor of the church, was struck down on the road to Damascus and met the risen Christ, and became Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles. He planted churches across the empire and wrote much of the New Testament, glorying only in the cross. His Latin name means small, fitting for a man who called himself the least of the apostles.

A verse for Paul

“Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,”Acts 13:9

“For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”1 Corinthians 15:9

A blessing for Paul

A blessing over Paul: may Paul grow to know that the God who names the stars knows Paul by name and loves Paul still. The name means small; may that meaning become more than a word, a true and lived thing. May Paul be kept, be brave, and be drawn all the days of life to Jesus Christ, in whom every good hope is kept safe.

Every name points to one Name

Scripture says God has given Jesus a name which is above every name, and that there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Whatever your name means, its deepest hope is met in Him. He knows His own by name, and He calls them to Himself as the Living Bread, the One who satisfies the hunger no name can fill.

Who is Jesus? · The gospel explained · Begin with Jesus

Go deeperRead the full lifeRead the chapterAll name meanings

Questions people ask

Is Paul a name in the Bible?

Yes. The apostle to the nations bore the name Paul in Scripture. You can read the account above; the Bible tells the story plainly and honestly.

What does the name Paul mean?

Paul is a Latin name meaning small, or humble.

What does Paul mean in Latin?

In Latin, the name Paul means small, or humble. That is its genuine root, not a modern guess.

More name meaningsTitusLukeSilasBarnabas All name meanings
Enter Living Breadprayer, Scripture, a family near you