The Meaning of the Name “Paula”

Recently, Jeff Lilly of Druid Journal did a reading on the meaning of my name. My name and I have a long history not all of it so harmonious! It all started when we researched our names in the school library in 9th grade.

My full name at the time was Paula Jean Ambrose…which roughly means, “Little, God is Gracious or Gift of God and Immortal.” At this age I was more about feeding my ego however, than truly seeking to understand where I fit in with the “little, or small” translation of Paul.

The meaning of Paul irritated me because physically, I was the furthest thing from being “small” and the paradox of this grated against me to such a degree that I decided to create my own version of the meaning by moving my last name forward in the sequence to create, “Little, Immortal, Gift of God”. This was pleasing to the side of me that was angry about being big yet couldn’t stand to be small

Of course, the mismatch I felt regarding the meaning of my first name did not go by unnoticed by my peers. At fourteen, my already (5′7″ built German-tough) frame seemed better suited to football than modeling…a fact that everyone seemed compelled to point out to me, and actually sometimes still do come to think of it! LOL!

But here, hidden within the name I didn’t like…was an aspect to my Nature, that as Jeff would later uncover and point out to me, is one of the great gifts of my Soul.

Jeff, through his name reading, was able to dig deeper into the name energetically and I must say that my understanding of my name and gratitude for it has really grown! Thanks Jeff!

Paula is the feminine form of Paul, and dates back to Latin. Paul was a Roman surname, and meant literally “small”; it is related to paucity, pauper, few, and even foal. The phonosemantic meaning of Paul, like the peal of a bell, is of Source energy arising from a point and speading to fill a volume. As this is your first name, this is your public face, your social role.

I don’t know your middle name; but in my experience this name is frequently more inward-looking, a more personal name. It’s also often related to the name of one of your guides. For example, my middle name is Paul (and there are no coincidences, Paula!), and I have frequent contact with Apollo, and (according to Slade) my primary guide’s name is Paul also.

The name Kawal, as a last name, is related to the spiritual energy wrapped up in your ancestral guides. Now, I don’t mind telling you I had a pretty tricky time coming up with the origin of Kawal. It’s a name found in Japanese, Hindu, and Arabic, but I think it most likely that your name comes from Polish Kawal, which in modern Polish can mean either “chunk, piece. part” or refer to a sort of conspiratorial practical joke. The “piece” meaning is older, and is more likely the source of the name. Spiritually it is a balanced, even energy that emerges from confinement and, with an act of will, spreads out into space.

I note that both of these names reflect expansion, volume, and light energy. It is the name of someone on an extraordinary journey!

Jeff pinpointed many things that resonated deeply for me in his reading. My last name changing to my married name heralded a time of extreme evolution for me and in many ways amplified my budding spiritual talents…strengthening what was hidden in my first name all along…a connection with energy, a point of emergence and expansion.

This actually speaks to the healing and intuitive work that I do as well, as I focus intently on Divine Light and expand it out until I can not only see the way my client operates but can actually bring those operations to a place of expansion within them. So in a nutshell he was able to use my name to see and help me to become even more conscious of the spiritual gift that has influenced me the most throughout my life.

Also Jeff’s research is top-notch. Kawal is a difficult name to place, a mystery to even my husband’s family and up till Jeff threw his hat in the ring, all attempts to research it came up short of any satisfactory translations. If you would like to have him read your name, simply click here to go to his site

Thanks Jeff…and Namaste!

Comments

By Jeff Lilly | Druid Journal on September 25th, 2008 at 6:12 am

Paula, the pleasure is all mine! I didn’t realize you’d had an issue with the “small” meaning of “Paula”. There’s an interesting point here, though: there really doesn’t seem to be any notion of relative “size” in the spirit realm (just as there is no notion of “not”; see this old post of mine). You can think about growth, expansion, and development, but my sense is that there isn’t any real sense of comparison. This is, I think, why the phonosemantic / spiritual meaning of “Paula” isn’t “small”, but more like “growth”.

By Paula Kawal on September 25th, 2008 at 6:57 pm

Hi Jeff,

The fact that “size” doesn’t exist in the spiritual plane is a great point and it makes total sense. My mind is swimming now, as I realize there are a great many other constructs of our own creation that also don’t exist!

Ah, but I will get to commenting about this, on your blog…very soon

By inanna on December 8th, 2008 at 8:47 am

Hi Paula,
thank you for your text, it added a new dimension to what I am learning about the name Paula, as I was looking for some information on via internet..
I am pregnant.. I had a dream a few weeks ago that I had a girl and when I asked her which of the names I had in mind she wanted – she said that none of them, she wanted to be named Paula.. Well, this is not a name I ever liked (I am originally Romanian and in Romanian there is a lot of fun that can be made on this name, from a lot of points of view and I am reluctant to give this name to my precious child in this conditions, even if at present I do not live in Ro anymore), I do not even think I know anybody named like that, although I’ve known a few Paul.. So I wanted to know more about the name, thank you for your posting:-) And thank you, Jeff

By Paula Kawal on December 24th, 2008 at 12:41 pm

Hi Inanna,

You are so welcome and congratulations. I am the mother of two and pregnancy is such a special time!

I’d like to point out that your child is attracted to the energy of the name – not necessarily the name itself. If prompted she is likely to give you some alternatives that resonate for her as well. Or, here’s an idea – you could possibly ask Jeff to do a name comparison for you and match you to names with the same resonance

Thanks for stopping by and best of luck with the name! It’s served me well over the years!

Love,

PK