Precious
Feminine · “of great value”
Precious is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 19,393 girls against 147 boys since 1880.
Precious is the English word used plainly as a name. It is a Latin word underneath — of great price — and it has been in real, steady use in the United States, in Nigeria and across the English-speaking Caribbean for decades.
How old is the name Precious?
Precious first appears in US birth records in 1897 — 128 years ago. The typical Precious alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 18,500 people named Precious are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Precious most popular?
Precious peaked in 1996, reaching #376 nationally. Today it ranks #3130, 2,754 places below that high. See the whole 1996 chart.
Where it comes from
From pretiosus to Precious
The story of Precious
English took precious from Norman French in the thirteenth century, first for stones and metals and then for people. Its life as a given name is much more recent and belongs chiefly to English-speaking Africa and to African-American families, where virtue and value names — Precious, Blessing, Favour, Gift — form a recognized group. Nigeria in particular uses it in large numbers, and it appears in American records in continuous use since the 1970s.
Meaning
of great value, dearly held
From Latin pretiosus, built on pretium, a price; the sense of high monetary worth came first and the sense of dearly loved followed it.
How the name formed
- pretiosus
- precious
Related forms: Preciosa · Preciosa · Précieuse
Pronouncing Precious
PRESH-us
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Precious
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
- 1897
- Most girls named
- 2002689 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #376reached in 1996
- Change vs 2022
- −41.4%51 in 2025, from 87
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.
Precious in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Preciosa in Spanish — related form
- Preciosa in Portuguese — related form
- Précieuse in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York.
Preciouss among us
people named Precious are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 31,515 born in 2025 was named Precious
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Hortense test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Precious's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Hortense climbed just as high around 1903, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Hortense's path sketches the road Precious is walking now.
Precious sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Precious is headed
Precious should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Precious beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Precious in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An ordinary English word, so no one has ever had to be taught to say or spell it.
- It belongs to a large and recognized group of virtue names with real communities behind it.
- The meaning is exact and needs no research to explain.
- It is a word applied to the child rather than a name with a history of its own, and a grown woman introducing herself says a sentence about herself each time.
- In British and Irish English it is also used sarcastically, which travelers will meet.
- The word carries a strong fictional association from a widely read novel and film.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Precious to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Precious
Feminine · #3130 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Preciouss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 18,500 people named Precious are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Precious in 2025?
- Precious ranks #3130 among US girl names in 2025, with 51 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Precious?
- About 1 in every 31,515 US girls born in 2025 was named Precious — 51 in all.
- Will my child share the name Precious with classmates?
- Precious will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Precious
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Janylah#3130 · Robbie#3130 · Lillyanna#3130 · Bayla#3130 · Karmyn#3130 · Advika#3130 · Samari#3130 · Jacie#3130
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Precious? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Precious and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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