boy's name
Pascal
pas-KAL
- Origin French
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 312,941
Northern Ireland
#416
2023 births
Pascal is a boy's name meaning of Easter, given to children born at Passover or Easter — and the word behind it is Hebrew, not Latin. It peaked in France in 1962 and charts in three markets.
- Pascal is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1962, when 21,260 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 117,911 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Pascal over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 1,380 |
| 1910s | 1,230 |
| 1920s | 1,545 |
| 1930s | 1,400 |
| 1940s | 3,395 |
| 1950s | 62,980 |
| 1960s | 173,635 |
| 1970s | 48,365 |
| 1980s | 10,540 |
| 1990s | 2,445 |
| 2000s | 750 |
| 2010s | 220 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 50 |
What Pascal means
Pascal means relating to Easter, or to Passover. The word came into Latin from the Hebrew pesach, the Passover, so the name records a season rather than describing a person.
Where Pascal comes from
Pascal is the Latin Paschalis, from pascha — which Latin took from the Greek rendering of the Hebrew pesach, the Passover. Because the Christian Easter falls at Passover, the same word covers both across most of Europe: Pâques in French, Pascua in Spanish, Pasqua in Italian. English is the outlier, using Easter from a Germanic spring goddess instead. So Pascal is a Hebrew festival name that reached French through Greek and Latin, and it belongs with Nathalie and Tiffany in the small group of calendar names that record when a child was born.
Pascal in use
Pascal peaked in France in 1962, when 21,260 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 3341st in England and Wales on 6 births, 3586th in the United States on 31 and 5267th in France on 5, across 312,941 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. France now gives it the weakest of the three positions despite holding almost all of its history.
How popular is Pascal?
In 2025, Pascal was given to 5 babies in France. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Pascal is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Pascal
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Pascal also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Pascal over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Pascal in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Pascal
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Pascal — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Pascal
What does the name Pascal mean?
Of Easter, or of Passover — from the Hebrew pesach by way of Greek and Latin.
Is Pascal a Hebrew name?
The word behind it is. Latin borrowed pascha from the Greek rendering of the Hebrew pesach.
Why doesn't English use a form of it for Easter?
English is the outlier — Easter comes from a Germanic spring goddess, while most of Europe uses a form of pascha.
How popular is Pascal?
5267th in France, down from a 1962 peak of 21,260 births.
Is Pascal a girl's or a boy's name?
Pascal is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Pascal?
Pascal has 2 syllables.
Is Pascal a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Pascal currently ranks #1,709 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.