Paul Meredith Potter (June 3, 1853 - March 7, 1921) was an American playwright and journalist, best known for adapting the popular novel Trilby into a stage play.

Potter was born Walter Arthur McLean in Brighton, England in 1853. His father was headmaster of King Edward's School in Bath. He adopted the name Paul Potter after traveling to India upon graduating from school. He became the foreign editor for the New York Herald in 1876, and later their London correspondent. In 1885 he became the Herald's drama critic, and in 1888, he left the Herald to join the Chicago Tribune.

Potter's first play was The City Directory (1889), following by a string of additional plays, including the adaptation of Trilby.