Precilla
Feminine · “ancient”
Precilla moves two letters of a Roman name past each other, and the change is inaudible. The standard spelling has an unexpected second life in American house furnishing, where it names a specific and instantly recognizable thing.
How old is the name Precilla?
Precilla first appears in US birth records in 1911 — 114 years ago. The typical Precilla alive today was born around 1970, making them about 55 years old. About 500 people named Precilla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Precilla most popular?
Precilla peaked in 1957, reaching #2028 nationally. See the whole 1957 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Priscus to Precilla
The story of Precilla
Priscilla curtains are a real category. They are white or cream, usually sheer, hung in pairs that cross over at the top and are pulled back to the sides with ties, with a deep ruffle running down the leading edges and along the bottom. American curtain manufacturers named the style in the nineteen-twenties, reaching for a name that sounded like an old New England household, and the term became standard in catalogs and remains in use in the trade. The whole style is an invention of that period pretending to be colonial, which is true of a substantial amount of what Americans think of as colonial. The name attached itself so firmly that a hardware clerk will still know exactly what is meant, without any sense that it was ever a person's name.
Meaning
ancient; of former times
A Roman diminutive of a family name built on the adjective priscus, meaning old or old-fashioned. As a name it was a compliment about lineage rather than about age, in a culture that took ancestry extremely seriously.
How the name formed
- Priscus
- Priscilla
- Precilla
Pronouncing Precilla
prih-SILL-uh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The transposed letters sit in the unstressed first syllable, which is why the change makes no difference.
Nicknames for Precilla
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1911
- Most girls named
- 195729 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2028reached in 1957
- Change vs 2006
- −33.3%6 in 2010, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Precillas among us
people named Precilla are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Precilla sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Middle stress on three syllables is the easiest rhythm English offers.
- Cilla detaches cleanly and is a complete name.
- The meaning is documented and was meant as a compliment.
- Priscilla is the standard spelling and this will be corrected constantly.
- The transposition is inaudible, so the spelling must be given aloud every time.
- One of its short forms is now an English adjective about being prim.
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Precilla
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Precillas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Precilla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Precilla in 2025?
- Precilla is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Precilla with classmates?
- Precilla will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Patricia#1334 · Pamela#2239 · Phyllis#11932 · Peggy#8362 · Paula#853 · Pauline#2957 · Pearl#776 · Paige#346
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Precilla? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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