Prudence (given name)
Prudence is a feminine given name. The name is a Medieval form of the Latin Prudentia, meaning prudence, i.e. good judgement.
The usual diminutive or short form is Pru or Prue. These may also be short for the unrelated name Prunella, which means plum.
People with this name
- Prue Acton, Australian fashion designer
- Prue Barron, British surgeon and geriatrician
- Prue Car, Australian 21st century politician
- Prudence Farrow, John Lennon's inspiration for the Beatles' song Dear Prudence
- Pru Goward, Australian politician, member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
- Prue Hyman, New Zealand anti-trans activist, economist and former cricketer
- Prue Leith, South African restaurateur, television presenter/broadcaster, cookery writer and novelist
- Prudence Liew, Hong Kong–based cantopop singer and actress
- Prudence MacLeod, philanthropist, daughter of media mogul Rupert Murdoch
- Prue MacSween, Australian television and radio personality, journalist, social commentator and public relations director
- Prudence Millinery, London based, milliner and hat designer
- Prudence McIntyre, the younger sister of the sister duo Patience & Prudence
- Prudence Neff, American pianist and music teacher
- Prue O'Donovan, Anglican Archdeacon of Flinders, South Australia
- Prue Sibree, former member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
- Prue Watt, Australian Paralympic swimmer
- Prue Williams, New Zealand scientist
Fictional characters
- Prudence, the eponymous heroine of Prudence by Jilly Cooper
- Prudence, a character from the 2007 film Across the Universe
- Prudence, English dub name for Ryusuke Minami's first guitar in the anime adaptation of BECK
- Prudence, voiced by Holland Taylor, a Disney character who appears in Cinderella II, Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, and Twice Charmed, as well as other Disney continuations of the Cinderella story. She is the majordomo of Cinderella's castle, as well as the love interest of the Grand Duke
- Prudence, a bullying toddler in the Rugrats episode "Showdown At Teeter-Totter Gulch"
- Prue, teenage protagonist of Wildwood, a 2011 children's fantasy novel
- Prudence Arnold, a first form girl and the main antagonist of the book Summer Term at St. Clare's by Enid Blyton
- Prue Brown, on the Australian soap opera Neighbours
- Prudence Bates, a 29-year-old spinster who works for a "vague cultural organisation" and keeps in touch with her best friend from Oxford, vicar's wife Jane Cleveland: together the heroines of Barbara Pym's eponymous 1953 novel Jane and Prudence
- Prudence Bell, the female lead in Rome Adventure, a 1960s love story with Troy Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette
- Prudence Blackwood, portrayed by Tati Gabrielle on the TV series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
- Prudence Courteney, the charming and unfortunate heroine of Evelyn Waugh's 1931 novel Black Mischief.
- Prudence Duncan, the middle sister in the Matchmaker triad of books by Jane Feather
- Prudence Everett, the youngest daughter of Prof. Harold Everett in the 1970-71 American TV program Nanny and the Professor
- Prue Halliwell, portrayed by Shannen Doherty, one of the lead characters on the TV show Charmed until her death at the end of the third season
- Prudence Harbinger, a fictional character created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. She is the new UK Prime Minister's Director of Media Liaison. Her diary has been serialised in the Sunday Telegraph, the first episode appearing on 10 May 2007
- Prudence King, main character of Love Lessons, a novel by Children's Laureate, Jacqueline Wilson
- Prudence McLeod, the mother of the main character Claire McLeod on the TV show McLeod's Daughters
- Prudence Palfrey, from the 1874 novel of the same name by Thomas Bailey Aldrich
- Prue Wallace, on the Australian soap opera Neighbours
- Prue Watkins, on the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours''