Did Paul Change His Name?

You often hear folks casually mention that Saul’s name was changed “Paul” following his conversion to Christianity. However, that really doesn’t seem to be the case…

Post-Conversion Saul

If you look through Acts of the Apostles, you see the usage of “Saul” following his conversion:

But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ…

…but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night, to kill him; …

So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul…

…and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul…

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, bringing with them John whose other name was Mark…

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyre′ne, Man′a-en a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”…

He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God…

But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him…

Acts 9:1-11, 9:22, 9:24, 11:25, 11:30, 12:25, 13:1-2, 13:7, 13:9

A Hebrew born of Hebrews, but a Roman Citizen

Paul most likely had two names because he was born to Jewish parents (Acts 23:6, Phil 3:5) but was also a Roman Citizen (Acts 22:28), meaning he would therefore have had a Roman name as well. This was true of one of the two Apostles who was put forward as a replacement for Judas:

And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsab′bas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthi′as… And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthi′as; and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles.

Acts 1:23, 26

Biblical Data

This makes sense of the fact that in Acts 13:9 marks the transition point in Acts from calling him “Saul” to “Paul”, as the man passes through Cyprus, transitioning from Syria to the more heavily Gentile populated lands of Pamphylia and Galatia.

Early Church Assessment

This just confirms was Origen wrote in AD 256 in the oldest surviving commentary on Romans:

… it appears to us that Paul also used two names and while he was ministering to his own people he was called Saul because it seemed more colloquial to his native country, but he was called Paul when composing laws and precepts for the Greeks and Gentiles. For the Scripture that says, “Saul, who was also called Paul,” shows very plainly that he is not being designated Paul there for the first time, but rather this had been an old designation.

 Origen, Comm. in Epist. ad Rom.