Prescilla
Feminine · “little ancient one”
Priscilla means little old woman. The Latin adjective behind it means ancient or venerable, and the ending is a diminutive, so the name a Roman family gave a baby daughter translated as something like little ancient one — which sounds absurd until you notice that Rome regarded age as the highest compliment available.
How old is the name Prescilla?
Prescilla first appears in US birth records in 1919 — 106 years ago. The typical Prescilla alive today was born around 1975, making them about 50 years old. About 900 people named Prescilla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Prescilla most popular?
Prescilla peaked in 1938, reaching #2021 nationally. See the whole 1938 chart.
Where it comes from
From a Latin adjective meaning ancient or venerable to Prescilla
The story of Prescilla
The name has stayed in continuous use for two thousand years largely because of one woman in the New Testament, a tentmaker who taught and traveled and is named ahead of her husband more often than not — which was unusual enough that commentators have been remarking on it since the second century. The pattern of the letters that mention her has convinced a number of serious scholars that she may have written one of the anonymous books of the New Testament herself. The case cannot be proved and has never gone away.
Meaning
little ancient one
Prisca was a Roman family name from the adjective meaning old or former, and Priscilla is its diminutive. Rome venerated antiquity: the Senate was the assembly of elders, the highest praise for an institution was that it was old, and a name meaning venerable was a good thing to give a child. This spelling substitutes an e for the first i, which changes nothing in speech because the syllable is unstressed.
How the name formed
- a Latin adjective meaning ancient or venerable
- Prisca as a Roman family name and Priscilla as its diminutive
- a New Testament tentmaker keeps the name in use
- English adopts it after the Reformation
- Prescilla appears in American records in the 1910s
Related forms: Priscilla · Priscilla · Priscille
Pronouncing Prescilla
prih-SIL-uh
Three syllables with the weight in the middle. The first vowel is unstressed and almost silent, which is why it can be written with an i or an e without anybody noticing.
Nicknames for Prescilla
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
- 1919
- Most girls named
- 199128 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2021reached in 1938
- Change vs 2009
- +16.7%7 in 2011, from 6
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.
Prescilla in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Priscilla in Latin — spelling variant
- Priscilla in Italian — same name
- Priscille in French — same name
Prescillas among us
people named Prescilla 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
Prescilla 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
- Cilla is available as a short form and is thoroughly current in Britain.
- The name has an unbroken history of two thousand years.
- The sound is soft throughout and read correctly at sight.
- Priscilla is the standard spelling and this one will be corrected constantly.
- The shortest short form is close to an unflattering English word.
- The meaning is a compliment in Roman terms and reads oddly in English ones.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Prescilla to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Prescilla? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Prescilla
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Prescillas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Prescilla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Prescilla in 2025?
- Prescilla is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Prescilla with classmates?
- Prescilla 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 Prescilla? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Prescilla and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle