Precious is a predominantly feminine given name derived from the English word meaning "of great worth." It is also in occasional use for males. It first appeared in the top 1,000 most popular names for girls in the United States in 1978, when it ranked at 989. It was ranked in the top 500 names given to newborn American girls between 1987 and 2002. It has since fallen in popularity and was last ranked in the top 1,000 names for girls in 2010. In 2011, there were 195 newborn American girls given the name; in 2012 there were 154 American girls given the name. In the United States, the name has been used predominantly by

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

s. According to one study, of 454 girls named Precious in California during the 1990s, 431 of them were

. It remained a popular name in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, where it was the ninth most popular name given to newborn girls in 2011. There were 394 newborn Filipino girls named Precious in 2011.

People

* Precious Achiuwa (born 1999), Nigerian basketball player *

Precious Adams Precious Adams is an American ballet dancer who currently dances with the English National Ballet. Early life Adams was born and raised in Canton, Michigan. Training Adams began dancing at the age of seven at a competitive jazz dance studio. ...

, American ballet dancer * Precious Bryant (born 1942), American country blues, gospel and folk guitarist *

Precious Dede Precious Uzoaru Dede (born 18 January 1980) is a Nigerian retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. She formerly played for several clubs including Delta Queens FC, Ibom Queens and Arna-Bjørnar, as well as appearing 99 times for the Nige ...

(born 1980), Nigerian female football goalkeeper * Precious Emuejeraye (born 1983), Singaporean footballer * Precious McKenzie (born 1936), South African-born weightlifter *

Precious Sekibo Dr. Abiye Samuel Precious Sekibo is a Nigerian doctor and politician who was Federal Minister of Transportation in the cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo, appointed in April 2003. Background Abiye Sekibo was born in 1958 in Okrika, Rivers ...

(born 1958), Nigerian doctor and former Federal Minister of Transportation * Precious Wilson (born 1957), Jamaican soul singer * Precious Doe, pseudonym given to the corpse of an initially unidentified female child

Fictional characters

* Precious Ramotswe, the main character in ''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'' book series *Claireece "Precious" Jones, the main character in the novel "

Push (novel) ''Push'' is the debut novel of American author Sapphire. Thirteen years after its release in 1996, the novel was made into the 2009 film '' Precious'', which won numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards. Plot Claireece Precious Jones ...

" by Sapphire (author) and the 2009 movie adaptation

Precious (film) ''Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire'', or simply ''Precious'', is a 2009 American drama film, directed and co-produced by Lee Daniels. Its script was written by Geoffrey S. Fletcher, adapted from the 1996 novel '' Push'' by Sapphir ...

Notes

{{given name English feminine given names