Precious
Precious was given to 51 girls in 2025, #3,158 among girls’ names; 19,540 Americans have been recorded with it since 1897 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 18,500 Americans named Precious and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (95% of everyone recorded); the median is 29 years old and half are between 22 and 37.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Precious by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Precious mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Precious is “a female given name from English.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Precious?
#3,158 among girls’ names, 2025
Precious fell from #1,640 in 2015 to #3,158 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 73.4 to 31.7 per million.
746 babies in 2001, the peak
Precious peaked in 2001, when 746 girls were given it, #392 among girls’ names. The 51 births of 2025 are 7% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 51 | #3,158 | 0.03 |
| 2024 | 69 | #2,581 | 0.04 |
| 2023 | 70 | #2,549 | 0.04 |
| 2022 | 87 | #2,186 | 0.05 |
| 2021 | 84 | #2,228 | 0.05 |
| 2020 | 58 | #2,847 | 0.04 |
| 2019 | 90 | #2,102 | 0.05 |
| 2018 | 113 | #1,810 | 0.07 |
| 2017 | 111 | #1,850 | 0.06 |
| 2016 | 109 | #1,881 | 0.06 |
Every recorded year (126)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 131 | #1,640 | 0.07 |
| 2014 | 133 | #1,620 | 0.07 |
| 2013 | 145 | #1,522 | 0.08 |
| 2012 | 157 | #1,455 | 0.09 |
| 2011 | 199 | #1,208 | 0.11 |
| 2010 | 268 | #957 | 0.15 |
| 2009 | 367 | #774 | 0.20 |
| 2008 | 375 | #784 | 0.20 |
| 2007 | 501 | #601 | 0.26 |
| 2006 | 534 | #551 | 0.28 |
| 2005 | 529 | #544 | 0.29 |
| 2004 | 512 | #560 | 0.28 |
| 2003 | 553 | #516 | 0.30 |
| 2002 | 689 | #423 | 0.38 |
| 2001 | 746 | #392 | 0.41 |
| 2000 | 648 | #436 | 0.36 |
| 1999 | 687 | #406 | 0.39 |
| 1998 | 741 | #381 | 0.42 |
| 1997 | 639 | #410 | 0.37 |
| 1996 | 703 | #377 | 0.40 |
| 1995 | 620 | #415 | 0.35 |
| 1994 | 631 | #399 | 0.35 |
| 1993 | 594 | #423 | 0.33 |
| 1992 | 569 | #444 | 0.31 |
| 1991 | 574 | #446 | 0.31 |
| 1990 | 547 | #451 | 0.29 |
| 1989 | 496 | #480 | 0.27 |
| 1988 | 525 | #433 | 0.29 |
| 1987 | 427 | #502 | 0.25 |
| 1986 | 418 | #503 | 0.24 |
| 1985 | 377 | #530 | 0.22 |
| 1984 | 278 | #634 | 0.17 |
| 1983 | 268 | #642 | 0.16 |
| 1982 | 271 | #659 | 0.16 |
| 1981 | 246 | #692 | 0.15 |
| 1980 | 249 | #692 | 0.15 |
| 1979 | 188 | #831 | 0.12 |
| 1978 | 140 | #989 | 0.09 |
| 1977 | 132 | #1,019 | 0.09 |
| 1976 | 88 | #1,268 | 0.06 |
| 1975 | 106 | #1,107 | 0.07 |
| 1974 | 89 | #1,233 | 0.06 |
| 1973 | 66 | #1,457 | 0.05 |
| 1972 | 87 | #1,222 | 0.06 |
| 1971 | 65 | #1,532 | 0.04 |
| 1970 | 59 | #1,615 | 0.03 |
| 1969 | 31 | #2,339 | 0.02 |
| 1968 | 54 | #1,571 | 0.03 |
| 1967 | 38 | #1,915 | 0.02 |
| 1966 | 38 | #1,874 | 0.02 |
| 1965 | 37 | #1,906 | 0.02 |
| 1964 | 31 | #2,180 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 30 | #2,203 | 0.02 |
| 1962 | 23 | #2,582 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 23 | #2,591 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 21 | #2,703 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 15 | #3,217 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 20 | #2,642 | 0.01 |
| 1957 | 10 | #4,128 | under 0.01 |
| 1956 | 20 | #2,598 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 18 | #2,697 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 24 | #2,218 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 16 | #2,786 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 8 | #4,387 | under 0.01 |
| 1951 | 13 | #3,069 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 21 | #2,173 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 29 | #1,796 | 0.02 |
| 1948 | 15 | #2,674 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 16 | #2,610 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 10 | #3,382 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 14 | #2,425 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 21 | #1,901 | 0.02 |
| 1943 | 16 | #2,329 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 20 | #1,964 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 18 | #2,008 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 9 | #3,159 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 15 | #2,191 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 19 | #1,860 | 0.02 |
| 1937 | 15 | #2,171 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 9 | #3,048 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 9 | #3,110 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 12 | #2,537 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 14 | #2,254 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 25 | #1,562 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 12 | #2,546 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 8 | #3,595 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 21 | #1,808 | 0.02 |
| 1928 | 16 | #2,266 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 29 | #1,550 | 0.02 |
| 1926 | 20 | #1,982 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 23 | #1,835 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 14 | #2,638 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 18 | #2,149 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 24 | #1,776 | 0.02 |
| 1921 | 18 | #2,180 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 25 | #1,695 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 24 | #1,692 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 17 | #2,185 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 16 | #2,184 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 12 | #2,623 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 10 | #2,859 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 5 | #4,078 | 0.01 |
| 1913 | 7 | #2,758 | 0.01 |
| 1911 | 9 | #1,767 | 0.02 |
| 1910 | 13 | #1,321 | 0.03 |
| 1909 | 5 | #2,478 | 0.01 |
| 1908 | 6 | #2,055 | 0.02 |
| 1907 | 6 | #2,010 | 0.02 |
| 1906 | 9 | #1,397 | 0.03 |
| 1905 | 5 | #2,170 | 0.02 |
| 1904 | 5 | #2,116 | 0.02 |
| 1903 | 6 | #1,748 | 0.02 |
| 1902 | 7 | #1,566 | 0.03 |
| 1900 | 6 | #1,884 | 0.02 |
| 1898 | 5 | #1,912 | 0.02 |
| 1897 | 6 | #1,518 | 0.03 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Precious a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Precious has been given almost only to girls: 147 boys in 126 years of records.
Girls and boys named Precious: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Precious, and how old are they?
18,500 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 95% of the 19,540 Americans ever recorded as Precious. The median Precious alive today is 29 years old; half are between 22 and 37.
The 2020 Census counted 15,863 people named Precious (15,535 women and girls, 328 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 18,270 born in the U.S. The Census count is 13% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 83 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 286 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,390 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 7,390 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 8,070 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,270 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Precious born?
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 7 | #2,858 | 0.8× |
Where Precious is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Precious is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 2.1 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Precious with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Precious
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Precious and names like it
- Compare Precious and TeannaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sPrecious peaked in 2001.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Precious since 1910.
- English namesWiktionary’s origin for Precious: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2001The year the most babies were named Precious.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Precious alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with PMost given first.