Prudence (given name)

Prudence is a feminine given name. The name is a Medieval form of the Latin Prudentia, meaning prudence, i.e. good judgment.

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

• Prudence Farrow, sister of actress Mia Farrow, was John Lennon's inspiration for the Beatles' song "Dear Prudence"
• Pru Goward, member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
• Prue Leith, British television cook
• Prudence Liew, Hong Kong-based cantopop singer and actress
• Prudence McIntyre, the younger sister of the sister duo Patience & Prudence

Fictional characters

• Prudence Brown, a first form girl and the main antagonist of the book Summer Term at St. Clare's by Enid Blyton.
• Prudence Palfrey, from the 1874 novel of the same name by Thomas Bailey Aldrich.
• Prudence Courteney, the charming and unfortunate heroine of Evelyn Waugh's 1931 novel "Black Mischief."
• Prudence, a character from John Updike's "Rabbit is Rich"
• 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"
• 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 Duncan, the middle sister in the Matchmaker triad of books by Jane Feather
• Prudence Everett (played by Kim Richards), 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