Pauline

Meaning of Pauline

Pauline—pronounced PAWL-een—was born beneath the terra-cotta rooftops of old Roma, her syllables distilled from the Latin Paulus, “small” or “humble,” yet she has never lacked for grandeur; across the centuries she has wandered like a soft-footed pilgrim, blessing medieval cloisters, candlelit French salons, and, in Brazil, the healing hands of Saint Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus. In the Napoleonic era she shimmered in the salons of Pauline Bonaparte, who draped the name in silk and imperial marble, and by the dawn of the American Jazz Age she was dancing through birth registers with zest, peaking in the 1920s before slipping into a gentle hush. Today, though her rank rests in the quiet 900s, Pauline still carries the timeless promise of modesty twined with quiet strength—a lyrical reminder that what begins small may grow mighty. For parents, she offers the warm, enduring music of tradition, a vintage lace whisper that feels ready to breathe again in modern nurseries bathed in morning light.