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Priscilla

Heart
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.

# 716 in the US

Priscilla Rank in US Top 1000

# 318 on Nameberry

Priscilla Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Priscilla Popularity

20 Names Similar to Priscilla

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Famous People Named Priscilla

  • PriscillaBiblical missionary married to Aquila
  • Priscilla Mullins Aldenwife of American Plymouth colonist John Alden
  • (Elizabeth) Priscilla Cooper Tyleracting First Lady of the U.S. as daughter,in,law of President John Tyler
  • Priscilla Jane Owens (18291899), hymnist
  • Priscilla LexandroFrench,American daughter of Khloe Lexandro
  • Priscilla Ann PresleyAmerican actress; ex,wife of Elvis
  • Priscilla Marie "CeCe" WinansAmerican gospel singer
  • Priscilla MorrillAmerican actress
  • Priscilla Natalie AhnAmerican singer/songwriter
  • Priscilla ChanAmerican physician; wife of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
  • Priscilla Richman OwenU.S. federal judge
  • Priscilla MartelAmerican baker and cookbook author
  • Priscilla LaneAmerican singer/actress of The Lane Sisters
  • Priscilla FlorencioBrazilian pop singer
  • Priscilla LopezAmerican singer and actress
  • Préscillia "Priscilla" BettiFrench singer and actress
  • Priscilla Marie PointerAmerican actress
  • Priscilla KembleEnglish stage actress
  • Priscilla HortonEnglish stage actress
  • Priscilla Chan (Waihan), Hong Kong pop singer
  • Priscilla BarnesAmerican actress
  • Priscilla "Cilla" Robertsondaughter of Jep and Jessica Robertson of reality TV's "Duck Dynasty"
  • Priscilla Lee TaylorAmerican model, actress & Playboy Playmate

Priscilla in Pop Culture

  • "The Adventures of PriscillaQueen of the Desert," 1994 Australian film
  • PriscillaJean Henrietta "Tulip" O'Hare, character in DC Universe's "Preacher"
  • Priscillacharacter in anime "Claymore"
  • Priscilla Parsonsa 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 MoodyZenobia's pale but interesting younger sister in "The Blithedale Romance" (1852) by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Priscilla Seftona Methodist preacher's daughter; wife of Richard Orchardson in "God and the Man" (1881) by Robert Buchanan
  • Priscillasong by Sea Wolf
  • Priscilla McAlistairfrom Paul Shapera's musical "Dolls of New Albion"