My name is Paula and I'm from Spain. I'm living in Catalonia, which is located on the north east coast of Spain.
Common names where I live could be Maria for women and Marc for men. It depends on the year. I think it changes a lot.
My family name is not so common as other ones, but in my town there are quite people that have the same family name as me.
Regarding to my name, it's a common name, and for this reason, it doesn't mean anything special.
Day by day, people tend to call his children with a names from other countries. I think this is due to the immigration because nowadays to connect with foreign people is easier than before. Then, when a couple have a baby, they probably will name him or her with a inusual name.
In Spain, when I meet someone for the first time, I use my first name, because everybody calls me as Paula. I don't have a nickname. Probably if I have had a different name like "Patricia", my friends or my family would call me Patri.
Here people don't tend to use surnames with a title when they speak to each other. It's more common use a surname with a title when you are addressing to important people, when you have to write some letter to someone, when you have to go to speak to you boss... and things like that. It's a way to be polite.
To sum up, in our language pet names are quite common. Some examples can be: "cari" and "amor". They are used in a home environment.