Papa

Popularity Trends

The name Papa is the #7,492 most popular name of all time in the U.S. on a gender-neutral basis, with a total of 247 recorded births since 1993. This represents the 3.2% percentile of name popularity (more popular than 3.2% of all names). For boys, it ranks #4,339 (5.3% percentile) for all time with 247 births since 1993.

Papa first appeared in U.S. birth records in 1993 (first recorded for boys in 1993). Birth data for Papa is available in 26 out of the 31 years between 1993 and 2023. The Social Security Administration only reports birth data for years in which the name was given to at least five children of the same gender.

For boys, Papa reached its peak popularity in 2003, achieving the 1.1% percentile (ranked #816) with 7 births per million. The name was most common in 2003, with 7 births per million (ranked 1.1% percentile). Since reaching a low point around 2017, the popularity of this name for boys has been increasing. Currently, Papa ranks #907 for boys (0.4% percentile) with 5 births per million, which is 73.8% of its peak share of births.

This chart shows the total number of births per million babies in each year for the name "Papa".

1993 2023 19932023

Key Statistics

Total Births

247

Peak Births

Peak Year

2003

First Recorded

1993

Peak Percentile

1.1%

Current Percentile

0.4%

Peak Rank

#816

Current Rank

#907

Male statistics

Names with Similar Spellings

These similar-looking names have spellings that are closest to the spelling of "Papa", in the sense that there are the fewest number of letter differences between the two spellings. These names exclude other spelling variations of this name. View all variations of Papa.

Names with Correlated Trends

These 12 names have popularity trends that correlate most strongly with the name Papa's popularity from 1990 to 2023 on a gender-neutral basis. Names may rise and fall in popularity for a variety of reasons, but correlations often reflect either changes in naming fashion or demographic shifts.

The correlation calculations in the table below ignore absolute popularity to show you names that move in similar directions as the name Papa at the same time. They also correct for changes in the overall birth rate over time. The 0-100% trend values are calculated by dividing each name's gender-neutral births per million by the peak births per million for that name.

The 12 names most strongly correlated to Papa range from Rheagan at 91.9% correlation to Sidharth at 89.5% correlation, with an average correlation level of 90.0%. The most popular of these 12 most correlated names is Heaven with 29.5K births (99% girls) and the least popular is Parys with 303 births (98% girls).

Papa's share of births peaked at 6.7 births per million for boys in 2003. It reached its lowest point of 2.9 births per million (44% of peak) in 1993. In 2023, the most recent period with data, the name Papa had 4.9 births per million, 74% of its peak popularity.

This chart shows how each name's popularity has changed over time relative to its peak (100%).

Rheagan

619

91.94% (very strong)

Keean

417

90.65% (very strong)

Olyvia

2,582

89.92% (very strong)

Makena

6,489

89.92% (very strong)

Makana

801

89.87% (very strong)

Parys

303

89.86% (very strong)

Arely

10.7k

89.73% (very strong)

Isak

1,042

89.69% (very strong)

Shylynn

412

89.55% (very strong)

Heaven

29.5k

89.55% (very strong)

Riddhi

612

89.54% (very strong)

Sidharth

727

89.53% (very strong)

About this table: Correlation values are shown as percentages from 0% to 100%, with each value accompanied by its strength (very weak to very strong). Higher percentages and stronger correlations indicate names that rise and fall together more closely in popularity. The strength labels are color-coded from gray (very weak) to green (very strong). The Trend column visualizes how each name's popularity has changed over time relative to its peak. Absolute correlation values are shown for simplicity (all correlations here are positive). The Total Births column is color-coded by gender distribution - blue shades for predominantly male names and red shades for predominantly female names, with purple hues indicating a more balanced gender distribution.

How to Pronounce Papa

Our model has identified 2 different pronunciations for the name Papa. Click the play button under each pronunciation to hear it spoken aloud.

Our model is 73.2% confident that Papa is pronounced as PAH-puh, which has 2 syllables. The next most likely pronunciation is PUH-puh, at 26.8% confidence, with 2 syllables.

PAH-puh

73.2%

PUH-puh

26.8%

PAH-puh (2 syllables)

Verified

73.2% confidence

P AA1 P AH0

PUH-puh (2 syllables)

26.8% confidence

P AH1 P AH0

Possible Additional Pronunciations

If none of the pronunciations above sound right to you, could you please check whether any of these related pronunciations should be applied to the name Papa? These are pronunciations that other similar names use, but which are not currently associated with Papa. If you think any of these are valid pronunciations for Papa, please vote using the thumbs up button.

About Pronunciation Data

Our confidence scores estimate the likelihood that a particular pronunciation is the most correct for a given name spelling. These scores are derived from pronunciation dictionaries, manual verification, your feedback, and a fine-tuned large language model trained to generate name pronunciations.

For any given spelling, confidence scores across all identified pronunciations sum to 100%. However, these scores don't account for the possibility of valid pronunciations that our model hasn't identified.

The raw pronunciations shown (like P AA1 P AH0) use the ARPAbet phoneme system, a standardized way to represent English speech sounds. Each symbol represents a distinct sound in American English. Visit the ARPAbet Wikipedia page to learn more about these phonetic symbols.

Pronunciation audio is generated by an open source text to speech model that has been customized to adhere to pronunciations provided in ARPAbet format, but sometimes pronunciations that differ subtly will sound identical, particularly if the only difference is the level of emphasis on a syllable or a single vowel sound.

Made with ❤️ by Aaron J Becker

On This Page