Fun Facts About the Name Pao
- 301 babies named Pao: U.S. records list 301 babies given the name Pao from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Pao Mean?
Pao is a short form of Paola, the Italian and Spanish feminine of Paolo and Pablo, which descend from the Latin name Paulus. Paulus was a Roman family name, or cognomen, commonly explained as "small" or "humble," from the Latin adjective paulus. Paola inherited that sense, and Pao, as a clipped form of Paola, has no separate etymology of its own.
In Chinese, Pao is a romanization rather than a single name. The Wade-Giles system, the usual English-language way of writing Mandarin before Pinyin, spells the unaspirated sound that Pinyin writes as b with the letter p. One spelling, Pao, therefore stands for several unrelated characters: the surnames 包 (Pinyin Bāo, "to wrap, bundle") and 鮑 (Bào, "abalone"), and the given-name element 寶/宝 (bǎo, "treasure"). In Chinese the meaning belongs to the character chosen, not to the English spelling.
Pao Name History & Origins
The Chinese form Pao comes out of nineteenth-century romanization. The diplomat and scholar Thomas Wade published a system for writing Mandarin in Latin letters in 1859, and Herbert Giles's later dictionary fixed the version known as Wade-Giles. It remained the ordinary way Chinese names appeared in English books, maps, and passports until Pinyin, adopted in China in 1958, replaced it. Under Wade-Giles the surname 包 (Bao) was written Pao, so the Northern Song official 包拯 appears in older English references as Pao Cheng, and emigrant families in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, and North America often carried the surname in that spelling.
The Romance name Pao developed along a different path. Paulus was an old Roman cognomen, and the Apostle Paul, a Jew from Tarsus originally named Saul, gave the name wide currency as Christianity spread through the Roman Empire and later through Europe. Italian produced Paolo and its feminine Paola; Spanish produced Pablo. Pao is the everyday clipped form of Paola in Spanish and Italian speech, and it also appears on its own as a given name in Spanish-speaking countries.
A similar-looking Hawaiian name, Paʻao, is separate: Hawaiian tradition tells of a priest of that name who came from the south Pacific and reorganized religious practice in the islands. The glottal stop makes it a two-part name, and it is not a source of the one-syllable Pao.
How Popular is the Name Pao?
Pao has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 1991. Its best rank was #2,131 in 1983.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | #8,477 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1998 | #9,325 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1997 | #8,966 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1996 | #7,737 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1995 | #7,579 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1994 | #6,812 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1993 | #3,608 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 1992 | #3,872 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1991 | #2,452 | 29 | 0.0014% |
| 1990 | #3,566 | 17 | 0.0008% |
| 1989 | #2,594 | 25 | 0.0012% |
| 1988 | #3,842 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1987 | #3,037 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1986 | #2,666 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 1985 | #2,913 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1984 | #2,786 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1983 | #2,131 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 1982 | #3,065 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1981 | #2,858 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1980 | #4,052 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1979 | #6,780 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
Most Popular Boy Names That Start with P
Short Boy Names That Start with P
How the Name Pao Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have a power of expression, either in speaking or writing. You are in favor for studying and research. You are clever, clear-sighted and intellectual. You don't like to let others know your true feelings. You might be atheistic or agnostic. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are seeking freedom, opportunities to enjoy life: to make love, to go places and to do things. You are very adventurous and willing to take risk to achieve your objectives. New ways and new experiences can't satisfy your restless nature. One adventure leads you to another. You are honest and fair, because you know that this is the only way to receive justice and honesty from other people. But your personal growth is vital for you, and it is difficult to be tied down by rules and obligations. Your restless spirit might best controlled by choosing the field of work that meet your demand for action and adventure.
✦ Pao's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Pao's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.