Daily AncestorPru.
Pru. in old records is an abbreviation of the first name Prudence.
Pru. is a clerk's shortening of Prudence. You meet it in church registers, wills and census name columns, where clerks cut common first names down to save time.
Today Pru is a nickname, but Pru. with a period in an old record is the clerk's abbreviation of the full name. Search an index under both forms.
As seen in a recordEntry in a church register
Pru., wife of Ephraim Tolman
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Pru.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/pru. Last checked 2026-10-12.