Paolina
Meaning of Paolina
Paolina, the Italian diminutive of the Latin nomen Paulus—signifying “small” or, by medieval Christian extension, “humble before God”—occupies an intriguing liminal space in Anglo-American onomastics, where its consonant-vowel balance retains a distinctly Mediterranean lilt while remaining intelligible to English-speaking ears. Historically associated with Pauline Bonaparte (born Maria Paola “Paolina” Bonaparte), whose patronage of the arts and role in Napoleonic diplomacy confer faint aristocratic overtones, the name also echoes the early-Christian veneration of Saint Paula of Rome, thereby layering classical prestige with ecclesiastical resonance. In the United States, Social Security data reveal an intermittent but steady trickle of registrations—never exceeding fifteen births in a single year since 1920—suggesting that contemporary parents deploy Paolina as a rarefied alternative to the more prevalent Paulina or Pauline when seeking cultural specificity without semantic obscurity. Pronounced in Italian as pow-LEE-nah, the name thus offers a compact synthesis of Latin etymology, art-historical association, and understated exclusivity, qualities that collectively sustain its quiet, enduring appeal on the periphery of modern naming conventions.
Pronunciation
Italian
- Pronunced as pow-LEE-nah (/poˈliːna/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Paolina
| Paolina Schiff - |
