NameCensus.

UK boy's name

Pablo

A masculine name of Spanish origin meaning "small" or "little one".

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Pablo is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Pablo popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #981, with 31 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2007, with 42 births.

This profile covers 791 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales and NRS Scotland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 74% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 797 living people in the UK are called Pablo. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Pablo ranked #981 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 31 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 2007, when 42 boys were registered as Pablo.
  • Pablo ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #590 in 2022.
  • About 797 living people in the UK are estimated to have Pablo as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#981

2024

Births in 2024

31

Latest year

Peak year

2007

42 births

Estimated living

797

2026

Meaning

What does Pablo mean?

Pablo is a masculine given name derived from the Roman family name Paulinus, which is itself a diminutive form of the name Paulus, meaning "small" or "humble" in Latin. The name Paulus stems from the ancient Roman gens Paulla, one of the most distinguished families in the Roman Republic.

The name Pablo gained widespread popularity through Saint Paul the Apostle, one of the most influential figures in early Christianity. Saint Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, played a significant role in the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire after his conversion on the road to Damascus, as recorded in the New Testament.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Pablo can be found in the 9th century, when a Benedictine monk named Pablo de Santa María lived in the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla in the Kingdom of Navarre, present-day Spain. This early use of the name reflects its deep roots in the Iberian Peninsula.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Pablo. One of the most famous was Pablo Picasso, the renowned Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, and co-founder of the Cubist movement. Born in 1881 in Malaga, Spain, Picasso's revolutionary artistic style and prolific body of work have had a profound influence on modern art.

Another prominent figure named Pablo was Pablo Neruda, the Chilean poet, diplomat, and political activist who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. Neruda, born in 1904 as Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, is celebrated for his passionate love poems and his profound exploration of political and social themes.

In the realm of religion, Pablo de Santa María, also known as Solomon Levi, was a influential figure in 15th-century Spain. Born a Jew in 1351, he converted to Christianity and became a prominent theologian, writer, and Bishop of Burgos, playing a significant role in the persecution of Jews in Spain.

Pablo Escobar, the notorious Colombian drug lord and narco-terrorist, was another notable figure with the name. Born in 1949, Escobar headed the Medellín Cartel and became one of the wealthiest criminals in history, amassing a vast fortune from the production and distribution of cocaine.

Finally, Pablo Picasso's grandson, Pablo Picasso Jr., born in 1949, was a successful car designer and entrepreneur who founded the Picasso line of luxury vehicles, showcasing his family's artistic legacy in the automotive industry.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Pablo over time

The chart below shows babies named Pablo registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Pablo, the clearest high point is 2007. The latest England and Wales figure is 31 births in 2024, compared with 42 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Pablo
011213242199620102024

Decades

Pablo by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Pablo was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #990 148 5
2010s #1024 287 10
2000s #826 283 10
1990s #871 73 4

Geography

Where Pablo is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Pablo. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Pablo ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #590 in 2022.

Scotland
4

Across the UK

Pablo in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#590 in 2022

3 years of NRS records, 12 total registered

Notable bearers

Famous people named Pablo

  • Pablo Martinez

    association football player

    Welsh footballer

    2000-

  • Pablo Sánchez Niño

    association football player

    Spanish association football player

    1995-

  • Pablo Ortúzar

    anthropologist

    Chilean anthropologist

    1985-

  • Pablo Mills

    association football player

    English footballer

    1984-

  • Pablo Pérez d'Ors

    curator; art historian

    curator and historian of Spanish art

    1979-

  • Pablo Giacopelli

    coach

    tennis coach (born 1972)

    1972-

  • Pablo Falconer

    record producer

    British musician

    1955-1987

  • Pablo Fanque

    equestrian; circus performer

    Circus performer and equestrian (1796-1871)

    1796-1871

Related

Names similar to Pablo

FAQ

Pablo: questions and answers

How popular is the name Pablo in the UK right now?

In 2024, Pablo was ranked #981 for boys in England and Wales, with 31 births registered.

When was Pablo most popular?

The peak year on record was 2007, with 42 babies registered as Pablo in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Pablo?

A masculine name of Spanish origin meaning "small" or "little one".

How many people are called Pablo in the UK?

A total of 791 babies have been registered as Pablo across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 12 more in Scotland.

Where is Pablo most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Pablo ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #590 in 2022. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.