PRISCILLA ZIEGLER

Of New Testament origin: from a post-classical Latin personal name, a feminine diminutive of the Roman family name Priscus ‘ancient’. Priscilla was the name of a woman with whom St Paul stayed at Corinth (Acts 18:3), referred to elsewhere as Prisca. The name was in regular use in the late 16th century and enjoyed a modest vogue in the 19th century.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a tiler, from an agent derivative of Middle High German ziegel ‘roof tile’ (Old High German ziagal, from Latin tegula), German Ziegel. In the Middle Ages the term came to denote bricks as well as tiles, and so in some cases the term may have denoted a brickmaker or bricklayer rather than a tiler.