Precious is a girl name with a modern feel, drawn from real birth records. Below you'll find what Precious means and where it comes from, plus how many babies have been named Precious across the United States, UK, Ireland and New Zealand, how popular Precious has been over the decades, and the year it peaked.
Precious is a girl name of Latin origin meaning “of great value, beloved”. A virtue name from the English word.
| Country | Births on record |
|---|---|
| United States since 1880 | 19,540 births |
| England & Wales since 1996 | 1,619 births |
| Scotland since 1974 | 20 births |
| Northern Ireland since 1997 | 3 births |
| Ireland since 1964 | 161 births |
Counts come from official national birth-registration statistics: U.S. Social Security Administration, England & Wales (Office for National Statistics), Scotland (National Records of Scotland), Northern Ireland (NISRA), Ireland (Central Statistics Office) and New Zealand (Dept. of Internal Affairs). Coverage spans differ, so totals aren't directly comparable across countries.
Babies named Precious per year, United States (1897 to 2025). United States peaked in 2001 (746/yr) · England & Wales peaked in 2007 (105/yr) · Ireland peaked in 2002 (25/yr) · Scotland peaked in 2011 (5/yr) · Northern Ireland peaked in 2008 (3/yr).
Precious has been a fairly common baby name in the United States. It was most common in 2001, when it ranked #746 nationally (given to 780 babies that year).
Preciosa · Prescious · Presious · Percious · Precyous · Precius · Preciousa · Precise
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