Girl's name
Pola
Say it POH-lah
Polish origin 2 syllables
Where Pola is loved, common and rare
Loved in Poland. Rare in Berlin, Cologne, the Netherlands and six more places. Common in Rostock.
1 in 4,473 girls born in Scotland in 2025
Poland 8thBerlin 241stCologne 419th
LovedCommonRare
Every place
In 11 of the 40 official lists, among them Poland (8th), Berlin (241st) and Cologne (419th).
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| Place | Rank | Girls | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | 8th 2025 | 2,812 | 1 in 43 |
| Berlin city | 241st 2023 | 13 | about 1 in 1,116 |
| Cologne city | 419th 2023 | 2 | about 1 in 3,072 |
| The Netherlands | 477th 2025 | 26 | about 1 in 2,347 |
| Scotland | 632nd 2025 | 4 | 1 in 4,473 |
| Ireland | 718th 2025 | 4 | 1 in 5,282 |
| England and Wales | 872nd 2025 | 40 | 1 in 6,332 |
| Switzerland | 1168th 2025 | 4 | 1 in 8,498 |
| Austria | 1305th 2025 | 2 | 1 in 17,861 |
| France | 2317th 2025 | 10 | 1 in 28,679 |
| Rostock city | 92nd 2025 | 2 | about 1 in 492 |
Rare, below the listed names: Northern Ireland, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, Munich, Bonn, Leipzig, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Catalonia, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia and Israel.
Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).
Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.
Sources: Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji, rejestr PESEL (dane.gov.pl) (Poland); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock (opendata-hro.de) (Rostock). How we count, and every source
About the name
Pola is a Polish girls' name, a shortened form of Apolonia. No separate meaning is attested for it; it is simply the everyday clipping of the longer name, which has become a first name in its own right.
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Said POH-lah, it has two syllables and a light, open ending, with the stress on the first. Apolonia remains its full form, so a child named Pola has a longer name in the background should she ever want it.
In Poland, Pola is a top-10 name and clearly a favourite. Elsewhere it is uncommon: it is used in small numbers in Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales, the Netherlands and Switzerland. In France it has been known for a long time and was at its height around 2019. It is rising slightly more often than it is falling, and it remains most strongly tied to Poland.
Meaning, origin, pronunciation
- Pronounced
- POH-lah, 2 syllables
- Origin
- Polish
- Other spellings
- Apolonia
Etymology
Polish female given name, a clipping of Apolonia.
From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.
Over time
Over five years: rising in 3 of 7 regions, falling in 2.
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Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.
Ten years of ranks
Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.
| Region | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 431 | 472 | 449 | 453 | 433 | 447 | 516 | 706 | 826 | 872 |
| Scotland | 383 | 409 | 301 | 343 | 293 | 316 | 470 | 439 | 476 | 632 |
| Northern Ireland | 353 | 432 | 361 | 336 | 281 | 446 | 418 | |||
| Ireland | 204 | 260 | 218 | 325 | 294 | 363 | 559 | 504 | 718 | |
| France | 2573 | 3622 | 1989 | 1995 | 2508 | 3608 | 2504 | 2420 | 3443 | 2317 |
| The Netherlands | 522 | 665 | 392 | 437 | 302 | 469 | 496 | 500 | 477 | |
| Austria | 1054 | 1320 | 1024 | 1310 | 736 | 399 | 660 | 580 | 872 | 1305 |
| Switzerland | 1458 | 1292 | 1296 | 1020 | 922 | 1370 | 645 | 1130 | 995 | 1168 |
| Berlin | 665 | 543 | 491 | 574 | 378 | 562 | 426 | 241 | ||
| Cologne | 236 | 599 | 918 | 659 | 435 | 419 | ||||
| Rostock | 202 | 187 | 92 | |||||||
| Sweden | 727 | 900 | ||||||||
| Iceland | 122 | 55 | ||||||||
| Poland | 20 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
England and Wales, 2004 to 2025
| Year | Rank | Girls | per 100,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 872 | 40 | 15.8 |
| 2024 | 826 | 45 | 17.4 |
| 2023 | 706 | 51 | 19.9 |
| 2022 | 516 | 77 | 29.2 |
| 2021 | 447 | 98 | 35.8 |
| 2020 | 433 | 98 | 36.5 |
| 2019 | 453 | 93 | 33.2 |
| 2018 | 449 | 97 | 33.6 |
| 2017 | 472 | 93 | 31.1 |
| 2016 | 431 | 103 | 33.5 |
| 2015 | 444 | 98 | 31.8 |
| 2014 | 582 | 71 | 23.2 |
| 2013 | 593 | 69 | 22.4 |
| 2012 | 731 | 55 | 17.1 |
| 2011 | 858 | 42 | 13.1 |
| 2010 | 946 | 36 | 11.2 |
| 2009 | 1055 | 30 | 9.6 |
| 2008 | 1176 | 25 | 7.9 |
| 2007 | 1656 | 15 | 4.9 |
| 2006 | 4157 | 4 | 1.3 |
| 2005 | 2970 | 6 | 2.1 |
| 2004 | 4598 | 3 | 1.0 |
Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.
France since 1925
Half of the babies named Pola in France since 1925 were born in or after 2015. First recorded in 1928. Her peak year there: 2019, at 4.4 per 100,000 girls.
Babies named Pola per 100,000 girls born in France, by five-year period. Her 2019 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.
Sources: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (1900-2025), Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.
Sister names for Pola
1 in 3,018 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Pola.
1 in 4,473 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Pola.
1 in 2,429 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Pola.
1 in 2,429 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Pola.
1 in 7,042 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Pola.
1 in 5,964 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Pola.
Similar forms, not dealt separately: Rozalia.
1 in 455 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Pola.
1 in 5,964 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Pola.
1 in 3,521 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Pola.
1 in 14,899 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Pola.
Middle names for Pola
1 in 57 in Northern Ireland
Pola Grace
2-1 beats · initials PG
Changes the beat after Pola: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 71 in Scotland
Pola Olivia
2-4 beats · initials PO · Pola slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Pola: 2 syllables, then 4 syllables. Pola slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 99 in Scotland
Pola Sophia
2-3 beats · initials PS
Changes the beat after Pola: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 311 in Ireland
Pola Maria
2-3 beats · initials PM
Changes the beat after Pola: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 214 in Northern Ireland
Pola Rose
2-1 beats · initials PR
Changes the beat after Pola: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 78 in Northern Ireland
Pola Emily
2-3 beats · initials PE · Pola slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Pola: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables. Pola slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 491 in Ireland
Pola Julia
2-3 beats · initials PJ
Changes the beat after Pola: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 1,286 in England and Wales
Pola Miriam
2-3 beats · initials PM
Changes the beat after Pola: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
Same style as Pola
Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.
1 in 3,018 in Ireland
94% alike: moves with Pola across countries and decades.
1 in 4,473 in Scotland
94% alike: moves with Pola across countries and decades.
1 in 2,429 in Northern Ireland
94% alike: moves with Pola across countries and decades.
1 in 12,061 in England and Wales
94% alike: moves with Pola across countries and decades.
1 in 7,042 in Ireland
94% alike: moves with Pola across countries and decades.
1 in 5,964 in Scotland
93% alike: moves with Pola across countries and decades.
1 in 14,899 in England and Wales
93% alike: moves with Pola across countries and decades.
1 in 4,225 in Ireland
92% alike: moves with Pola across countries and decades.
Famous people named Pola
Pola Negri and Pola Illéry.
Show all 2Show less
-
Polish actress (1897-1987)
-
Actress (1909–1993)
People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.
Questions about Pola
4 questions, on how popular she is, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.
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How popular is Pola?
Her best rank is No. 8 in Poland in 2025, about 1 in 43 girls. She is in the published lists of 11 of our 40 regions.
How do you pronounce Pola?
POH-lah, with 2 syllables.
Is Pola getting more popular?
Over five years: rising in 3 of 7 regions, falling in 2.
Which sister names go with Pola?
The deck's top five sisters for Pola: Alicja, Oliwia, Zuzanna, Lilianna and Marcelina. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.