How Many People Are Named Precious?
An estimated 18,158 people in the United States have the first name Precious. It is predominantly female (99.2%). The average bearer is 30 years old, and Precious peaked in popularity in 2001 with 746 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Precious as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Precious paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Precious is overwhelmingly female, 147 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
18,158
About 1 in 18,876 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.2% confidence
Average Age
30
years old
Peak Year
2001
746 births
Total Registered
19,489
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Precious
Precious is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 19,489 total births registered, 99.2% were female.
Precious as a male name
Ranked #11,902 in 2023
6 male births in 2023
Peak: 1988 (8 births)
Precious as a female name
Ranked #2,570 in 2024
69 female births in 2024
Peak: 2001 (746 births)
Precious: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Precious span from the 1890s to the 2020s, covering 14 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1990s, when 6,320 babies were registered. Precious has declined significantly from its peak in the 1990s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Precious by Decade
How has Precious tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Precious by State
Birth registrations for Precious span all 39 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Utah, Iowa, New Mexico. On average, about 415 Preciouss were registered per state.
Precious + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Precious as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Precious
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
Precious: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Precious?
We estimate approximately 18,158 people named Precious are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 18,876 Americans share this first name.
Is Precious a common name?
Precious is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 19,489 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Precious most popular?
Precious reached peak popularity in 2001, when 746 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Precious is approximately 30 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Precious a female name?
Precious is predominantly female. 99.2% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Precious Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Precious Smith, Precious Johnson, Precious Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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