Precious

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 4 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Precious is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name19K records spelled Precious4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, United States, South Africa, Nigeria

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

• French given name4.1K records spelled Precious15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, South Africa, United States, Nigeria

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Précious, Précíoús, Precioüs, Préçîôus, Precïoûs

• Danish given name629 records spelled Precious7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, Denmark, South Africa, United States

  Languages: Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian

  Also written Prëcïõûs

60 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Precious is also recorded in 3 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, for a valued member of the community (perhaps some/times used ironically), from ME, OF precios (LL pretiosus, a deriv. of pretium price, prize). It may also derive from a medieval female given name, originally an affection¬ ate nickname. Var.: Pretious. Cogns.: Jewish (Sefardic): Preciado (ornamental); Pers(s)iado (hypercorrected forms).

  as a name·A dictionary of surnames

• In English, Pretorius see Praetorius for a valued member of the community (perhaps some¬ times used ironically), from ME, OF precios (hh pretiosus, a deriv. of pretium price, prize). It may also derive from a medieval female given name, originally an affectionate nickname.

  as a name·The Oxford Names Companion - The definitive guide to Surnames, First Names, and Place Names of the British Isles

• In English, Of high value or worth.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 126 years between 1897–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Precious Bryantb. 1942USAmerican musician
• Precious Adamsb. 1950USAmerican ballet dancer
• Precious Wilsonb. 1957JMJamaican singer
• Precious Moloi-Motsepeb. 1964ZASouth African fashionista
• Precious Chongb. 1968CACanadian actress
• Precious Dedeb. 1980NGNigerian association football player
• Precious Lara Quigamanb. 1983PHFilipina beauty pageant titleholder
• Precious Makgaretsab. 1986ZASouth African actress
• Precious Mustaphab. 1997GBactress
• Precious Achiuwab. 1999NGNigerian basketball player (born 1999)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 338 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Precious?

We estimate roughly 16 thousand people bear Precious (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Precious have the most bearers?

Precious is most frequently recorded in Nigeria, where it is most often spelled precious.

How common is Precious compared with other names?

In Nigeria, Precious is the 143rd most common given name of 146,224 given names recorded there.

Is Precious a male or female name?

Precious is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Precious mean?

Recorded meaning: from Lat Preciosa ‘of great value’, used as a woman’s name; first attested Preciosa 1203 Cur (Herts)