Princella
A feminine diminutive form of the French "princesse", meaning small princess.
Name Census estimates that about 304 living Americans carry the first name Princella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Princella today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Princella births was 1942 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Princella. 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
304
~ 1 in 1,127,481 Americans
Peak year
1942
19 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
2004 SSA rank
#18,137
Tracked since 1900
Census
Princella in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 381 people with the first name Princella, which placed it at #25,037 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#25,037
National first-name rank
People counted
381
381 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
81.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Princella
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Princella is Black at 81.4%. The next largest groups are White (6.6%) and Hispanic (4.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Princella described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Princella at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American81.4% · 310
- White6.6% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 18
- Two or more races3.1% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 8
Popularity
Princella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Princella from the 1900s through to the 2000s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 100 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Princella 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 Princella during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Princella
The given name Princella is a feminine variant of the name Princella, which is derived from the Latin word "princeps," meaning "chief" or "leader." This name has its roots in ancient Roman culture, where it was initially used to denote a person of high status or authority.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Princella can be traced back to the late Roman Empire period, around the 4th or 5th century AD. During this era, it was not uncommon for noble families or those with political influence to name their daughters with names that reflected their social standing or aspirations.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Princella was a Roman noblewoman who lived in the 5th century AD. She was the daughter of a prominent senator and was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for the Christian church during a tumultuous period in Rome's history.
As the Roman Empire declined and Christianity spread throughout Europe, the name Princella fell out of common usage for several centuries. However, it experienced a resurgence during the Renaissance period, particularly in Italy, where it was often used by aristocratic families to honor their noble lineage.
In the 16th century, a notable Italian Renaissance painter named Princella da Vinci, who was a distant relative of the famous Leonardo da Vinci, gained recognition for her exquisite portraits and frescoes adorning churches and palaces throughout northern Italy.
Another historical figure who bore the name Princella was a French noblewoman from the 17th century. Princella de Montmorency was a prominent figure at the court of King Louis XIV and was renowned for her intelligence, wit, and skill in political maneuvering.
In the 19th century, Princella Nightingale, an English socialite and philanthropist, was known for her efforts in promoting women's education and advocating for better healthcare conditions for the poor.
A more recent example of a notable person named Princella was Princella Curie, a Polish-born physicist and chemist who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win the Nobel Prize twice, in 1903 and 1911, respectively.
While the name Princella is not as common today as it once was, it still holds a certain historical significance and charm, reminiscent of an era when names were often chosen to reflect one's social status and aspirations.
People
Princella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Princella 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
Princella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Princella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 304 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Princella 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 1,127,481 US residents.
Is Princella a common name?
We classify Princella as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 624 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Princella most popular?
The single biggest year for Princella was 1942, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Princella is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Princella in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 381 people with the name Princella, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,037 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Princella in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Princella?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Princella appears almost entirely female. Of the 379 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Princella?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Princella is Black at 81.4%. The next largest groups are White (6.6%) and Hispanic (4.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Princella most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Princella in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.4% (310 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Princella in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Princella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Princella 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.
Is Princella still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Princella in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Princella can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people have the name Princella?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.