How Many People Are Named Priscilla?
An estimated 83,583 people in the United States have the first name Priscilla. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 46 years old, and Priscilla peaked in popularity in 1942 with 1,998 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Priscilla 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 Priscilla paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Priscilla is overwhelmingly female, 244 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
83,583
About 1 in 4,101 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.8% confidence
Average Age
46
years old
Peak Year
1942
1,998 births
Total Registered
122,478
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Priscilla
Priscilla is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 122,478 total births registered, 99.8% were female.
Priscilla as a male name
Ranked #8,980 in 1997
6 male births in 1997
Peak: 1985 (14 births)
Priscilla as a female name
Ranked #615 in 2024
484 female births in 2024
Peak: 1942 (1,988 births)
Priscilla: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Priscilla span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1940s, when 18,165 babies were registered. Priscilla has declined significantly from its peak in the 1940s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Priscilla by Decade
How has Priscilla 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.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 375 | 0 | 375 | |
| 1890s | 589 | 0 | 589 | |
| 1900s | 937 | 0 | 937 | |
| 1910s | 3,378 | 0 | 3,378 | |
| 1920s | 8,095 | 11 | 8,084 | |
| 1930s | 8,550 | 12 | 8,538 | |
| 1940s | 18,165 | 40 | 18,125 | |
| 1950s | 14,257 | 16 | 14,241 | |
| 1960s | 10,362 | 23 | 10,339 | |
| 1970s | 9,142 | 28 | 9,114 | |
| 1980s | 16,082 | 77 | 16,005 | |
| 1990s | 14,530 | 37 | 14,493 | |
| 2000s | 9,599 | 0 | 9,599 | |
| 2010s | 6,071 | 0 | 6,071 | |
| 2020s | 2,346 | 0 | 2,346 | |
Priscilla by State
Birth registrations for Priscilla span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Wyoming, Alaska, Delaware. On average, about 2,286 Priscillas were registered per state.
Priscilla + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Priscilla as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Priscilla
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
Priscilla: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Priscilla?
We estimate approximately 83,583 people named Priscilla 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 4,101 Americans share this first name.
Is Priscilla a common name?
Priscilla is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 122,478 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Priscilla most popular?
Priscilla reached peak popularity in 1942, when 1,998 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Priscilla is approximately 46 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Priscilla a female name?
Priscilla is predominantly female. 99.8% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Priscilla Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Priscilla Smith, Priscilla Johnson, Priscilla 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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