Precilla
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "ancient" or "venerable".
Name Census estimates that about 489 living Americans carry the first name Precilla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Precilla today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Precilla births was 1957 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Precilla. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
489
~ 1 in 700,929 Americans
Peak year
1957
29 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2010 SSA rank
#16,476
Tracked since 1911
Popularity
Precilla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Precilla from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 103 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Precilla by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Precilla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Precillas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, New Mexico recorded the most babies named Precilla, while New Mexico, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Precilla
The given name Precilla is believed to have its origins in the Latin language. It is thought to be a feminine form of the Latin name Priscillus, which itself is a diminutive of the name Priscus. The root word "priscus" in Latin means "ancient" or "old-fashioned".
In early Christian history, there was a famous woman named Priscilla who is mentioned in the New Testament. She was a Jewish missionary who helped spread Christianity in the first century AD, alongside her husband Aquila. They are celebrated as saints in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
The earliest recorded use of the name Precilla dates back to the Middle Ages in Europe. One notable bearer of this name was Precilla of Narnia, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 12th century. She was known for her charitable works and was later canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church.
In the 16th century, there was a Spanish woman named Precilla de Guzmán who was a prominent figure in the court of King Philip II of Spain. She served as a lady-in-waiting to the queen and was known for her intelligence and wit.
Another historical figure with this name was Precilla Bourneville, a French educator and philanthropist who lived in the 19th century. She founded several schools for underprivileged children and worked tirelessly to improve education opportunities for the poor.
In the realm of literature, one of the most famous bearers of the name Precilla was the character from the novel "The Vicar of Wakefield" by Oliver Goldsmith, published in 1766. Precilla was the daughter of the vicar and was portrayed as a virtuous and dutiful young woman.
Other notable figures throughout history who bore the name Precilla include Precilla de' Medici, an Italian noblewoman from the powerful Medici family in the 15th century, and Precilla Lascelles, an English aristocrat and philanthropist who lived in the 18th century.
People
Precilla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Precilla as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Precilla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Precilla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 489 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Precilla going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 700,929 US residents.
Is Precilla a common name?
We classify Precilla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 671 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Precilla most popular?
The single biggest year for Precilla was 1957, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Precilla is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Precilla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Precilla in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.