Priscilla

Girls’ name Recorded 1880-2025

Priscilla was given to 555 girls in 2025, #544 among girls’ names; 123,040 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).

An estimated 89,300 Americans named Priscilla and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (73% of everyone recorded); the median is 44 years old and half are between 30 and 68.

Babies named Priscilla each year, first recorded in 1880

Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).

Priscilla or Priscila Names of the 1940s Names in California

Births of Priscilla by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

What does Priscilla mean?

Wiktionary, English section

Priscilla is “a female given name from Latin of biblical origin.” Its etymology gives the sense “former, ancient, old-fashioned” (prīscus).

Feminine diminutive form of a Roman cognomen Prīscus, from Latin prīscus (“former, ancient, old-fashioned”). Compare typologically Seneca (< Latin Seneca < senex).

/pɹɪˈsɪlə/

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary, entry Priscilla (English), CC BY‑SA 4.0. Quoted from the entry; text after a cross-reference to another sense is left out.

Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).

How popular is Priscilla?

#544 among girls’ names, 2025

Priscilla fell from #501 in 2015 to #544 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 0.36 to 0.35 per 1,000.

1,998 babies in 1942, the peak

Priscilla peaked in 1942, when 1,998 babies were given it (1,988 girls, #135 among girls’ names). The 555 births of 2025 are 28% of that peak.

Priscilla by year
Year	Births	Rank	Per 1,000 girls
2025	555	#544	0.35
2024	487	#613	0.30
2023	452	#650	0.28
2022	411	#714	0.25
2021	478	#622	0.29
2020	523	#563	0.32
2019	487	#618	0.29
2018	535	#577	0.31
2017	592	#527	0.34
2016	669	#476	0.38

Every recorded year (146)

Year	Births	Rank	Per 1,000 girls
2015	636	#501	0.36
2014	652	#483	0.36
2013	637	#479	0.36
2012	632	#488	0.36
2011	612	#485	0.35
2010	621	#486	0.35
2009	772	#413	0.42
2008	777	#413	0.41
2007	876	#374	0.46
2006	874	#374	0.46
2005	909	#346	0.49
2004	921	#347	0.50
2003	1,080	#288	0.59
2002	1,090	#285	0.61
2001	1,130	#279	0.63
2000	1,170	#273	0.64
1999	1,291	#247	0.73
1998	1,284	#239	0.73
1997	1,156	#253	0.66
1996	1,093	#260	0.62
1995	1,307	#215	0.74
1994	1,507	#197	0.84
1993	1,596	#182	0.88
1992	1,726	#179	0.94
1991	1,779	#168	0.95
1990	1,754	#167	0.92
1989	1,740	#164	0.94
1988	1,812	#156	1.0
1987	1,648	#168	0.95
1986	1,536	#175	0.90
1985	1,701	#167	1.0
1984	1,601	#172	1.0
1983	1,508	#180	0.90
1982	1,488	#184	0.88
1981	1,540	#180	0.92
1980	1,432	#187	0.86
1979	1,256	#209	0.78
1978	1,099	#225	0.72
1977	913	#272	0.60
1976	789	#290	0.54
1975	722	#317	0.50
1974	904	#280	0.62
1973	826	#290	0.57
1972	766	#316	0.50
1971	903	#304	0.54
1970	936	#304	0.54
1969	918	#300	0.54
1968	857	#302	0.52
1967	871	#290	0.53
1966	846	#302	0.50
1965	945	#284	0.54
1964	1,138	#267	0.60
1963	1,248	#252	0.65
1962	1,211	#257	0.62
1961	1,089	#278	0.54
1960	1,215	#252	0.60
1959	1,271	#243	0.63
1958	1,396	#219	0.69
1957	1,449	#220	0.71
1956	1,350	#224	0.67
1955	1,280	#226	0.65
1954	1,307	#222	0.67
1953	1,379	#214	0.73
1952	1,547	#192	0.83
1951	1,590	#181	0.88
1950	1,672	#169	1.0
1949	1,935	#154	1.1
1948	1,847	#156	1.1
1947	1,933	#151	1.1
1946	1,659	#160	1.1
1945	1,412	#166	1.1
1944	1,576	#157	1.2
1943	1,834	#146	1.3
1942	1,988	#135	1.5
1941	1,971	#132	1.6
1940	1,970	#127	1.7
1939	1,542	#148	1.4
1938	1,026	#188	0.93
1937	797	#207	0.75
1936	758	#215	0.73
1935	774	#223	0.74
1934	664	#240	0.64
1933	676	#235	0.67
1932	728	#225	0.68
1931	749	#221	0.70
1930	824	#213	0.73
1929	842	#214	0.75
1928	887	#212	0.77
1927	898	#212	0.75
1926	834	#220	0.70
1925	830	#224	0.68
1924	861	#224	0.69
1923	811	#227	0.67
1922	761	#235	0.63
1921	723	#248	0.59
1920	637	#260	0.53
1919	557	#269	0.49
1918	518	#275	0.45
1917	456	#288	0.42
1916	440	#286	0.42
1915	392	#292	0.40
1914	279	#317	0.37
1913	241	#304	0.39
1912	205	#319	0.37
1911	148	#327	0.35
1910	142	#324	0.36
1909	99	#371	0.29
1908	106	#347	0.32
1907	117	#321	0.37
1906	107	#326	0.36
1905	88	#361	0.30
1904	80	#368	0.29
1903	79	#359	0.30
1902	79	#364	0.30
1901	72	#359	0.30
1900	110	#323	0.37
1899	59	#380	0.25
1898	71	#371	0.27
1897	73	#343	0.31
1896	72	#344	0.30
1895	63	#352	0.27
1894	59	#366	0.26
1893	51	#382	0.24
1892	50	#380	0.24
1891	51	#350	0.27
1890	40	#404	0.21
1889	39	#391	0.22
1888	56	#324	0.31
1887	51	#301	0.35
1886	42	#331	0.29
1885	32	#362	0.24
1884	40	#314	0.31
1883	27	#352	0.24
1882	35	#298	0.32
1881	27	#309	0.29
1880	26	#315	0.29

Download Priscilla’s births by year (CSV)

Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.

Is Priscilla a boy’s or a girl’s name?

Priscilla has been given almost only to girls: 244 boys in 146 years of records.

Girls and boys named Priscilla: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.

How many people are named Priscilla, and how old are they?

89,300 alive in 2026, estimated

That is 73% of the 123,040 Americans ever recorded as Priscilla. The median Priscilla alive today is 44 years old; half are between 30 and 68.

The 2020 Census counted 87,905 people named Priscilla (87,810 women and girls, 95 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 93,269 born in the U.S. The Census count is 6% below that prediction.

Alive today, by age

100-10955

90-991,000

80-897,490

70-7911,500

60-6910,000

50-597,860

40-49 (median)13,500

30-3915,600

20-2910,800

10-196,830

0-94,490

Alive today, by generation

By generation
Generation	Born	Alive
Silent Generation	1928-1945	7,460
Baby Boomers	1946-1964	21,000
Generation X	1965-1980	14,000
Millennials	1981-1996	24,700
Generation Z	1997-2012	15,000
Generation Alpha	2013-2025	7,070

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 Priscilla born?

The states with the most babies named Priscilla are California, Texas and New York, with 37% of its births recorded by state since 1910.

States with the most births: girls and boys together; rank among girls’ names in the state in 2025
State	Since 1910	Rank, girls	vs. national
California	19,286	#356	1.7×
Texas	15,672	#528	1.8×
New York	8,938	#652	0.9×
Massachusetts	6,827	#977	2.0×
Florida	4,591	#460	1.2×
Pennsylvania	4,440	#910	0.6×
Illinois	4,366	#481	0.7×
North Carolina	3,383	#677	0.9×
New Jersey	2,961	#560	0.8×
Ohio	2,871	#947	0.5×

Where Priscilla is more common than its national share predicts

Relative to its national share, Priscilla is most over-represented in Maine: since 1910 it was given 2.6 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.

Maine2.59×

New Mexico2.51×

New Hampshire2.05×

Massachusetts2.02×

Texas1.80×

Arizona1.77×

California1.68×

Vermont1.59×

Bars start at 1× (as often as the national share predicts).

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 Priscilla with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.

Names spelled alike

Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 129,618 babies since 1880, Priscilla is the most given (95% of them). In 2025 it was given to 555 of their 639 babies (87%), again the most given.

Priscilla and the names spelled alike
Name	Since 1880	Births 2025	Peak year
Priscilla	123,040	555	1942
Priscila	4,897	84	2002
Priscella	1,031	under 5	1980
Priscillia	438	under 5	1957
Priscille	212	under 5	1944

Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.

Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Priscilla

Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.

Name	Recorded	1880-2025
Carlyn	4,373
Janey	5,044
Claudia	129,078

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 Priscilla and names like it

Compare Priscilla and PriscilaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
The most given names of the 1940sPriscilla peaked in 1942.
California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Priscilla since 1910.
Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Priscilla: every such name, by how often it is given.
The top names of 1942The year the most babies were named Priscilla.
The names of the MillennialsMost people named Priscilla alive today were born 1981-1996.
Names starting with PMost given first.

Compare Priscilla with another name