Priscilla

prih-SIHL-uh (English); preesh-SHEEL-uh (Italian)

Latin, diminutive of Prisca

"ancient"

Priscilla Origin and Meaning

The name Priscilla is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "ancient".

Despite her somewhat prissy, puritanical air, Priscilla has managed to stay widely used for well over a century -- it reached as high as Number 127 in 1940 -- appreciated for its delicacy and solid history.

A New Testament name, it was Priscilla with whom the apostle Paul stayed while spreading the gospel in Corinth. It was common in the ancient Roman world and later was a favorite of the seventeenth century Puritans. Priscilla Mullins (Alden), remembered for her co-starring role in Longfellow's poem The Courtship of Miles Standish, making Priscilla one of the perfect Thanksgiving baby names. There was also a sympathetic Priscilla in Hawthorne's The Blithedale Romance.

The most conspicuous contemporary bearer of the name is Priscilla Presley, and it's what J. R. R. Tolkien named his only daughter.

If you find the nickname Prissy too prissy, you could use the British-inflected Cilla.

Priscilla Rank in US Top 1000

# 656 in the US

Priscilla Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 382 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Priscilla

• 656 US 2023
• 382 Nameberry 2025
• 779 Future 2028
• 903 England 2023

20 Names Similar to Priscilla

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Priscilla.

• Annette
• Lucinda
• Clarice
• Dolores
• Antonia
• Judith
• Marianne
• Helene
• Loretta
• Portia
• Cornelia
• Gloria
• Marguerite
• Claudia
• Constance
• Antoinette
• Rosaline
• Yvette
• Dinah
• Silvia

Famous People Named Priscilla

• Priscilla Biblical missionary married to Aquila
• Priscilla Mullins Alden wife of American Plymouth colonist John Alden
• (Elizabeth) Priscilla Cooper Tyler acting First Lady of the U.S. as daughter,in,law of President John Tyler
• Priscilla Jane Owens (1829 1899), hymnist
• Priscilla Lexandro French,American daughter of Khloe Lexandro
• Priscilla Ann Presley American actress; ex,wife of Elvis
• Priscilla Marie "CeCe" Winans American gospel singer
• Priscilla Morrill American actress
• Priscilla Natalie Ahn American singer/songwriter
• Priscilla Chan American physician; wife of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
• Priscilla Richman Owen U.S. federal judge
• Priscilla Martel American baker and cookbook author
• Priscilla Lane American singer/actress of The Lane Sisters
• Priscilla Florencio Brazilian pop singer
• Priscilla Lopez American singer and actress
• Préscillia "Priscilla" Betti French singer and actress
• Priscilla Marie Pointer American actress
• Priscilla Kemble English stage actress
• Priscilla Horton English stage actress
• Priscilla Chan (Wai han), Hong Kong pop singer
• Priscilla Barnes American actress
• Priscilla "Cilla" Robertson daughter of Jep and Jessica Robertson of reality TV's "Duck Dynasty"
• Priscilla Lee Taylor American model, actress & Playboy Playmate

The name Priscilla in Pop Culture

• "The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert," 1994 Australian film
• Priscilla Jean Henrietta "Tulip" O'Hare, character in DC Universe's "Preacher"
• Priscilla character in anime "Claymore"
• Priscilla Parsons a bully in the "St Clare" book series by Enid Blyton
• Priscilla "Mrs. Jellaby's maid, given to drink" in Bleak House (1854) by Charles Dickens
• Priscilla Moody Zenobia's pale but interesting younger sister in "The Blithedale Romance" (1852) by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Priscilla Sefton a Methodist preacher's daughter; wife of Richard Orchardson in "God and the Man" (1881) by Robert Buchanan
• Priscilla song by Sea Wolf
• Priscilla McAlistair from Paul Shapera's musical "Dolls of New Albion"

International Variations of the name Priscilla

• Piri Hungarian
• Prisca French
• Priscila Spanish
• Prisilla Spanish
• Piroska Hungarian
• Priscille French