# Saul (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/saul/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /sɔl/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Shaul |
| US babies named this | 43,362 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 43,288 / 74 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,927, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Old English Saul. Doublet of Silas, which derived from Aramaic.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 5 | 11,763 |
| 1982 | 7 | 8,994 |
| 1984 | 6 | 10,103 |
| 1985 | 7 | 9,076 |
| 1988 | 5 | 13,439 |
| 1989 | 8 | 9,481 |
| 1990 | 7 | 11,137 |
| 1991 | 5 | 14,914 |
| 1992 | 5 | 15,084 |
| 1997 | 7 | 11,839 |
| 2000 | 6 | 14,679 |
| 2004 | 6 | 15,731 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 715 | 399 |
| 2012 | 690 | 414 |
| 2013 | 656 | 440 |
| 2014 | 664 | 450 |
| 2015 | 592 | 495 |
| 2016 | 560 | 527 |
| 2017 | 605 | 485 |
| 2018 | 534 | 531 |
| 2019 | 538 | 533 |
| 2020 | 484 | 575 |
| 2021 | 513 | 556 |
| 2022 | 581 | 513 |
| 2023 | 515 | 570 |
| 2024 | 531 | 559 |
| 2025 | 535 | 557 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 68 | 516 |
| 2012 | 72 | 515 |
| 2013 | 63 | 565 |
| 2014 | 61 | 583 |
| 2015 | 53 | 646 |
| 2016 | 43 | 765 |
| 2017 | 47 | 730 |
| 2018 | 45 | 741 |
| 2019 | 28 | 1,001 |
| 2020 | 28 | 993 |
| 2021 | 35 | 871 |
| 2022 | 28 | 1,029 |
| 2023 | 30 | 987 |
| 2024 | 19 | 1,402 |
| 2025 | 29 | 1,035 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: سَوْل, شَاؤُول
- Chinese: 索爾 /索尔
- Dutch: Saul
- Esperanto: Saŭlo
- Finnish: Sauli
- Hebrew: שָׁאוּל
- Lithuanian: Saulius
- Polish: Saul
- Portuguese: Saulo
- Spanish: Saúl

## People named Saul

- Saul Bellow, Canadian-American writer (1915–2005)
- Saul Perlmutter, American astrophysicist and Nobel laureate
- Saul Kripke, American philosopher and logician (1940–2022)
- Saul Bass, American graphic designer and filmmaker (1920–1996)
- Saul Zaentz, American film producer and record company executive (1921-2014)
- Saul Alinsky, American community organizer and writer (1909–1972)
- Saul Williams, American singer, musician, poet, writer, and actor
- Saul Rubinek, Canadian actor and director (born 1948)
- Saul Leiter, American photographer (1923-2013)
- Saúl Coco, Equatorial Guinean association football player (born 1999)
- Saúl Calandra, Argentine association football player (1904-1973)
- Saul Lieberman, American rabbi

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.