Girl · Latin
Priscilla
Say it: prih-SIL-uh
Meaning
Latin, a diminutive of Prisca, from priscus 'ancient, old'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Used by English Puritans and well known from Longfellow's poem about the Mayflower passenger Priscilla Mullins.
Its wave through time
Timeless: in steady use for over a century
In the United States
- 120,626 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1940, about 1 in 580 girls
- 518 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Biblical WorldAbout 1200 BC to AD 100
- Ancient Rome750 BC to AD 476
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Prisilla
| French | Priscille |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Priscila |
| Italian | Priscilla |
| Portuguese | Priscila |
Famous bearers
- Priscilla, early Christian teacher with her husband Aquila
- Priscilla Mullins (Alden), Mayflower passenger
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
- Puritan church and town records of England and New England
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.