Priscilla is an English female given name adopted from Latin Prisca, derived from priscus.
The name first appears in the New Testament either as Priscilla or Prisca, a female leader in early Christianity. The name also appears along with Maximilla, referring to two female leaders of the Montanist movement of the 2nd century AD.
The name appears in English literature in Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1596), and was adopted as an English name by the Puritans in the 17th century.
It increased in usage in the United States in the 1930s due to the influence of actress Priscilla Lane and again in the late 1970s and early 1980s due to the influence of actress Priscilla Presley.
Notable people and characters with the name include:
People
A
Priscilla Abey (born 1999), Ugandan basketball player
Priscilla Abwao (1924–2009), Kenyan activist
Priscilla Achapka, Nigerian environmental activist
Priscilla Agera (born 1978), Nigerian volleyball player
Priscilla Opoku Agyeman (born 1991), Ghanaian actress and women's advocate
Priscilla Ahn (born 1984), American musician
Priscilla Alcantara (born 1996), Brazilian singer
Priscilla Alden (1602–1685), Member of Massachusetts's Plymouth Colony of Pilgrims
Priscilla Almodovar (born 1967), American chief executive
Priscilla B. Anderson (born 1935), American politician
Priscilla Atkins, Aboriginal Australian leader and television producer
B
Priscilla Baird (1828–1904), American academic administrator
Priscilla Baker, South African professor of analytical chemistry
Priscilla Baltazar-Padilla (1958–2021), 188th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
Priscilla Baltimore, Abolitionist and social worker
Priscilla Barnes (born 1954), American actress
Priscilla Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby (1761–1828), English Baroness
Priscilla Betti (born 1989), French singer
Priscilla Beukes, Namibian politician
Priscilla Block (born 1995), American singer-songwriter
Priscilla Fairfield Bok (1896–1975), American astronomer
Priscilla Bonner (1899–1996), American actress
Priscilla Bowman (1928–1988), American singer
Priscilla Braislin (1838–1888), First mathematics professor at Vassar College
Priscilla Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie (1915–1978), British politician
Priscilla Buckley (1921–2012), American journalist and author
Priscilla Susan Bury (1799–1872), British botanist and artist
Priscilla Buxton (1808-1852), British abolitionist
C
Priscilla Carnaval (born 1993), Brazilian cyclist
Priscilla Carrasco (born 1933), American photographer
Priscilla Castillo (born 1970), Chilean politician
Priscilla Cellona, Filipina film actress
Priscilla Chan (singer) (born 1965), Hong Kong pop singer
Priscilla Chan (born 1985), American pediatrician and philanthropist
Priscilla Cherry (born 1971), Mauritian judoka
Priscilla A. Clapp (born 1941), American diplomat
Priscilla Cohn (1933–2019), American philosopher
Priscilla Coleman (artist), American courtroom artist
Priscilla K. Coleman, American psychologist and researcher
Priscilla Coolidge (1940–2014), American singer
Priscilla Crabb (1864–1931), New Zealand temperance activist
Priscilla Cummings (born 1951), American author
Priscilla Cushman, American physicist
D
Priscilla Dean (1896–1987), American actress
Priscilla Holmes Drake (1812–1892), American suffragist
Priscilla Duffield (1918–2009), American secretary and office manager
Priscilla Duncan (born 1983), New Zealand footballer
Priscilla Dunn (1943–2024), American politician
E
Priscilla Ekwere Eleje, Nigerian bank executive
Priscilla Ernst (born 1971), Dutch speed skater
F
Priscilla Faia (born 1985), Canadian actress
Priscilla Falcón, Chicana activist in Colorado
Priscilla Ford (1930–2005), American mass murderer
Priscilla Frederick (born 1989), American-born Antiguan high jumper
Priscilla Frisch (1943–2025), American astronomer
G
Priscilla Gagné (born 1986), Canadian judoka
Priscilla Galloway (1930–2018), Canadian children's literature author and English teacher
Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol (born 1988), Indonesian martial artist
Priscilla Garita (born 1968), American actress
Priscilla Giddings (born 1983), American politician and pilot from Idaho
Priscilla Gilman (born 1970), American writer and former college professor
Priscilla Gneto (born 1991), French judoka
Priscilla Ann Goslin, American graphic designer and author
Priscilla Gurney (1757–1828), British Quaker minister
Priscilla Guthrie, American government official
H
Priscilla Hagan (born 1996), Ghanaian footballer
Priscilla Hamby (born 1982), American illustrator and comic book artist
Priscilla Hastings (1920–2010), British racehorse owner and trainer
Priscilla Hayner, American human rights activist
Priscilla Herdman (born 1948), American musician
Priscilla Hernández (born 1984), Spanish singer-songwriter and fantasy illustrator
Priscilla Hill (born 1961), American figure skater
Priscilla Capps Hill (1900–1985), American philanthropist
Priscilla Hiss (1903–1984), American wife of Alger Hiss
Priscilla Hon (born 1998), Australian tennis player
Priscilla Horton (1818–1895), English singer, actress and theatre manager
Priscilla Hussey (1894–1946), American entomologist
I
Priscilla Isaacs, South African politician
Priscilla Mary Işın (born 1951), Turkish Ottoman-cuisine historian
J
Priscilla Freeman Jacobs (born 1940), Waccamaw-Siouan chief
Priscilla Jana (1943–2020), South African human rights lawyer
K
Priscilla Nyokabi Kanyua, Kenyan politician
Priscilla Kavita (1961–2021), Namibian politician
Priscilla Kayira, Malawian radio broadcaster, presenter and television personality
Priscilla Kemble (1756–1845), English actress
Priscilla Kincaid-Smith (1926–2015), South African-born Australian physician and medical researcher
Priscilla Krempl, Singaporean school principal and rugby referee
Priscilla Kuye (born 1940), Nigerian lawyer
L
Priscilla Lane (1915–1995), American actress
Priscilla Laws (born 1940), American physics educator
Priscilla Lawson (1914–1958), American actress
Priscilla Leung (born 1960), Hong Kong barrister and politician
Priscilla Levac, Canadian snowboarder
Priscilla Lockwood (1936–2019), American politician
Priscilla Long (born 1943), American writer and political activist
Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (born 1982), Canadian hurdler
Priscilla Lopez (born 1948), American singer, dancer, and actress
Priscilla Lun (born 1990), American badminton player
M
Priscilla Maaswinkel (born 1985), Dutch ten-pin bowler
Priscilla Mamba (born 1972), Swazi long-distance runner
Priscilla Tozama Mantashe (1960–2021), South African politician
Priscilla Kolibea Mante, Ghanaian neuropharmacologist
Priscilla Martins, Brazilian beauty pageant winner
Priscilla Bright McLaren (1815–1906), British activist
Priscilla McLean (born 1942), American classical composer
Priscilla Johnson McMillan (1928–2021), American author and historian
Priscilla Mead (born 1944), American politician
Priscilla Meirelles (born 1983), Brazilian beauty pageant winner
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, Zimbabwean politician
Priscilla Mitchell (1941–2014), American country music singer
Priscilla Mokaba, South African political activist
Priscilla Monge (born 1968), Costa Rican installation artist
Priscilla Moran (1918–2006), American silent film actress
Priscilla Morand (born 1993), Mauritian judoka
Priscilla Morgan (born 1934), English actress
Priscilla Morrill (1927–1994), American actress
Priscilla Morris, British writer
N
Priscilla Namingha (1924–2008), Hopi-Tewa potter
Priscilla Napier (1908–1998), English writer
Priscilla Nedd-Friendly (born 1955), American film editor
Priscilla Negrón (born 1984), Ecuadorian actress
Priscilla Nelson, American academic administrator
Priscilla Ng (born 1984), Hong Kong television journalist
Priscilla Norman (1883–1964), British activist and suffragist
Priscilla Nzimiro (1923–1951), Nigerian medical doctor
O
Priscilla…