Entry № 8317 · Latin origin

Priscilla Priscilla — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ prih-SIL-ah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Latin
Meaning
"Ancient, venerable"
Syllables
3
First recorded
Ancient (Latin)

A name that means "ancient, venerable".

Priscilla comes from the Latin priscus, meaning "ancient" or "venerable." In the New Testament, Priscilla (often called Prisca) was a tentmaker and missionary who, with her husband Aquila, hosted Saint Paul.

Priscilla peaked at #127 in the U.S. in 1940. Priscilla Presley (born 1945), wife of Elvis, is the most famous 20th-century bearer. Today Priscilla is returning slowly — currently in the U.S. top 500.

Ancient. The missionary tentmaker of Acts.

The name in its native script.

Priscilla
Transliteration
Priscilla
Pronunciation
/ prɪˈsɪl.ə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Priscilla stands.

Priscilla does not currently appear in the US Social Security Administration's top 1,000 girls' names, so we don't publish a US rank or birth count for it. That says nothing about the name's standing elsewhere in the world — only that it sits outside the ranked US data we rely on.

Priscillas before her.

Real people
Priscilla Presley
American actress, wife of Elvis.
born 1945
Priscilla Chan
American philanthropist, wife of Mark Zuckerberg.
born 1985
In fiction

Names connected to Priscilla.

The number behind Priscilla.

9

The Giver

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Priscilla reduce to 9, The Giver. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.