Late Middle English (in an earlier sense). From the genitive of the name of St Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, Christian leader and theologian (d. c a.d. 64), attested in a number of forms from Old English onwards (also as personal name: see below) from post-classical Latin Paulus, Paullus, family name from paulus, paullus. Some of the main forms of the name in other languages are: Italian Paolo, Spanish Pablo, Portuguese Paulo, German Paul, Danish Poul, Swedish Pål, Påvel, Irish Pól, Welsh Pawl, Breton Pol, Russian Pavel. The Apostle seems to have adopted the name Paulus upon becoming a Roman citizen because it resembled his original name, Saul (Hebrew Šā'ūl, meaning ‘asked (for)’).