Saul
Meaning
traditionally 'asked for, prayed for'
The story
Saul is the asked-for name, Hebrew Shaul, borne by the first king of Israel, tall and tragic, and by the apostle who carried it on the Damascus road before setting it aside for Paul, which gives one short name two of scripture's biggest turning points. Its American record is patient: quiet, steady use from the 1890s, sustained especially in Jewish and, as Saúl, Latino families, building gradually to its strongest band in the 2000s and 2010s. The curve was already at its full height before Better Call Saul premiered in 2015, so television joined the name's best era rather than causing it, a distinction the record is happy to enforce. It has eased slightly since, and it remains what it always was: a short, grave, biblical name that never needed a throne or a series to hold its ground.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Saul peaked in the 2000s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
5,832 people · the #2,456 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 34,483 · median age 38
Among people named Saul living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 428 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Saul
Most people given the name Saul in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Saul deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Saul truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Saul fits with your family’s names and surname.
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