Cecilia

Where Cecilia comes from

From Latin Caecilia, feminine form of Caecilius, a Roman family name possibly derived from the byname caecus (“blind”). Popularized by Saint Cecilia, third century Roman martyr, the patron saint of music. Doublet of Sheila.
— Wiktionary's entry for Cecilia
  • Latin
  • 4 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #233 among girls — 44 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1900
    Cecilia Helena Payne Gaposchkin born
    British-born American astronomer
  3. 1966
    Cecilia Bartoli born
    Italian opera singer
  4. 2025
    Peak, #108
    2,506 babies named Cecilia — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Latin.
Namesakes
  • Cecilia Helena Payne Gaposchkin · British-born American astronomer, 1900–1979
  • Cecilia Bartoli · Italian opera singer, born 1966
  • Cecilia Roth · Argentine actress, born 1956
  • Cecilia Malmström · Swedish politician, born 1968

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.