NameVoyager Analysis: Paul and Paula

While researching last week's NameVoyager analysis, I found the above name chart hiding behind the one for Paul.

It's...Paul!

Apparently, Paul was at one time a girl's name, but not for that many girls even at the height of its popularity. It first landed in the top 1000 during the 1910s (rank 927), peaked in the 1920s (782), declined again in the 1930s (907), then disappeared forever.

Perhaps people were riding high in the stock market and felt financially secure enough to name their daughters Paul, before the crash and Depression brought new parents back to reality. Even at its high, a mere 33 baby girls per million (.0033 percent) were saddled with this arguably masculine name. Did these girls call themselves Paul, or did they go by a nickname instead.

It's very odd, especially when there's a simple female version of Paul called Paula.
Paula wasn't yet as popular a name as it would be in the 1950s, when it enjoyed highs of 2,200 per million and a rank of 46, but in the 1920s it still had a rank of 313, and a rate of 200 per million.

As for the fortunes of Paula, its popularity plunged after the 1970s and has flattened out in the low 600s.

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