Paula

Name: Paula, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈpɔːlə/

//ˈpɔːlə// name

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“Paula” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,418. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,418
frequency rank, English: 4,417
“P” headwords: 6
tracked misspellings: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A female given name from Latin.

Corpus desk

Index EN-paula · Paula · English

Paula · rank #10,418 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

FREQ-MID #10,418
LEN-MID 5 letters
VOW-3 3 vowels
CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
VAR-MID 6 variants
BOOK-MID 4,417
PHOTO-FINISH PayPal

Nearest frequency peer: PayPal (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

observing

89,587
Omar

89,586
Paula

89,583
PayPal

89,582
Pedro

89,581
pens

89,580

What this shows “Paula” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Paula vs PLA

20% similar

Paula vs pull

40% similar

Paula vs pulp

40% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Paula
Property	Value
Headword	Paula
Language	English
Part of speech	Proper noun
IPA	/ˈpɔːlə/
Letters	5
Frequency rank	#10,418
Misspellings tracked	6
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Paula”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).Paulalands here:

#10,418

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “PayPal” (#10,419), “Pedro” (#10,420), “Omar” (#10,415). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “Paula” is #10,418. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around Paula (IPA /ˈpɔːlə/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #10,418 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A female given name from Latin.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for Paula, with forms such as "apula", "palua", and "paual". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PLA", "pull", "pulp", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin Paula, feminine form of Paulus (“Paul”). The correct English form is Paula, spelled P-A-U-L-A.

Definition

1
A female given name from Latin.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Paula appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

Names are fascinating, aren't they? I love mine. I think my parents had very good taste calling us Peter and Paula and Melinda.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said Wednesday she will extend her temporary restraining blocking his removal until Abrego Garcia's latest deportation challenge in court is resolved.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Paula, feminine form of Paulus (“Paul”).

This word in other languages

Paula(Español)Paule(Français)Paula(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

apula
palua
paual
paulla
ppaula
puala

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Paula - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "Paula"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Paula"?

"Paula" is spelled P-A-U-L-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɔːlə/.

What does "Paula" mean?

As a proper noun, "Paula" means: A female given name from Latin.

What words are commonly confused with "Paula"?

"Paula" is commonly confused with "PLA", "pull", "pulp". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "Paula"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Paula" is /ˈpɔːlə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "Paula"?

Borrowed from Latin Paula, feminine form of Paulus (“Paul”). See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Paula", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Pedro#10,420 naive#10,408 myths#10,407 moron#10,405

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

pens6 variants mesh6 variants lent6 variants Knox6 variants