The Paus family (pronounced [ˈpæʉs]), also styled de Paus or von Paus, is a Norwegian family that emerged as an aristocratic priestly family from Medieval Oslo in the 16th century. For centuries, it belonged to the "aristocracy of officials," especially in the clergy and legal professions in Upper Telemark. Later generations entered shipping, steel, and banking, becoming steel magnates in Oslo. The family's best-known members are Henrik Ibsen and Ole Paus. The name is recorded in Oslo from the 14th century and likely derives from a metaphorical use of the Middle Low German word for pope—perhaps meaning "the pious one"—reflecting foreign influence and name satire in medieval Oslo.
The priest brothers Hans (1587–1648) and Peder Povelsson Paus (1590–1653) from Oslo have long been known as the family's earliest certain ancestors. In Slekten Paus, Finne-Grønn identified their grandfather as Hans Olufsson (d. 1570), a canon at St Mary's Church who held noble rank and served as a royal priest both before and after the Reformation. Peder Povelsson Paus came to Upper Telemark as parish priest of Vinje in 1618, became provost of Upper Telemark in 1633, and was the ancestor of the extant family; in the 17th century the family also used the name Vind (Wind) after the parish of Vinje. From the 17th to the 19th century, the family were among the foremost of the regional elite, the "aristocracy of officials" in Upper Telemark, where family members served as priests, judges and other officials, often across generations. The family held the district judgeship—the region's chief governmental and judicial office—for 106 years (1668–1774). It was a meritocratic elite defined by education, priesthood, and service to the state, and the apex of the social order of Upper Telemark.
