The place name "Paull"

Paull has been in existence since at least the eleventh century and most probably much longer. A settlement more or less on the same site as the present village is recorded as "Pagula," which is the Latin term for a stake marking a landing-place. Since the land is extremely low-lying (in places below sea level) and at the time, before relatively recent drainage to provide fertile farmland, mostly marshland, the approach from the river would have been difficult and dangerous, across saltmarsh and mudflats at low tide and shallow water even at high tide. The villagers of Paull were, until recent times, dependent on the river for their livelihoods and much of their transport, so a marker visible from the seaward approaches would have been essential to ensure a safe landing.

The name "Pagula" appears on old maps in various spellings and was soon contracted to "Pagul" and thence "Pagil" or "Paghil" and eventually "Paul" or "Paull." The variant Paghill is still in use today, in the area of Paull known as Paghill.

There is a local theory - unsubstantiated but quite possible - that the neighbouring village of Thorngumbald gets its unusual name from a corruption of "Thorn-cum-Paull" where "cum" means "with" and is common in joint parishes.

The surname Paull is not used locally but the Parish Council has had many enquiries from people with the surname Paull who want to know whether they can trace their ancestry to the village.

There is local precedent for using place-names as surnames : the family Hulme / Holme derives their surname from the local placename Paull Holme and not vice versa.

The surname Paull is far more likely to be a patronymic surname (a surname derived from the father's Christian / given name) from the name Paul, which is itself derived from the Latin paulus, meaning small. This is the name of several Christian saints including THE Saint Paul, and as such has long been popular in western Europe.