Prisilla
A feminine name derived from the Latin word "priscus," meaning ancient or old.
Name Census estimates that about 616 living Americans carry the first name Prisilla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Prisilla today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Prisilla births was 2002 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Prisilla. 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
616
~ 1 in 556,419 Americans
Peak year
2002
29 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2015 SSA rank
#18,498
Tracked since 1963
Popularity
Prisilla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Prisilla from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 208 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Prisilla 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 Prisilla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Prisillas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Prisilla
Prisilla is a feminine given name derived from the Latin name Priscilla, which in turn originated from the Roman family name Prisca, meaning "ancient" or "venerable." The name has its roots in ancient Rome and can be traced back to the 1st century AD.
The name Priscilla was borne by an early Christian woman mentioned in the New Testament. She was a Roman Jewish missionary who traveled and preached alongside her husband Aquila. The couple is credited with helping to establish the early Christian church in Corinth and Ephesus.
During the Middle Ages, the name Prisca or Priscilla was relatively common among early Christian communities, particularly in Italy and other parts of Europe influenced by the Roman Empire. It was often used to honor the biblical figure of the same name.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Prisilla, the variant spelling used in this report, can be found in the 12th century. Prisilla of Armentières was a French noblewoman and crusader who participated in the Third Crusade in the late 12th century.
In the 16th century, Prisilla Coburn, an English Puritan woman, was one of the early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in North America. She arrived in the colony in 1638 and is known for her involvement in the religious disputes of the time.
Another notable bearer of the name was Prisilla Wakefield, an English author and philanthropist who lived from 1751 to 1832. She was a prominent advocate for women's education and wrote several popular books on moral and religious topics.
In the 19th century, Prisilla Sellars Pearson was a American painter and one of the founders of the Stetson University in Florida. She played a significant role in promoting the arts and education in the state.
Prisilla Buckles, born in 1900, was a Canadian author and educator who wrote several books on Indigenous cultures and traditions. She worked to preserve and promote the stories and languages of various First Nations communities in Canada.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Prisilla. The name has maintained a certain level of popularity over the centuries, particularly in English-speaking countries with Christian or European cultural influences.
People
Prisilla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Prisilla 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
Prisilla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Prisilla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 616 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Prisilla 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 556,419 US residents.
Is Prisilla a common name?
We classify Prisilla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 640 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Prisilla most popular?
The single biggest year for Prisilla was 2002, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Prisilla is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Prisilla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Prisilla 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.