Cicely

Where Cicely comes from

The dictionaries list Cicely as a given name — a female given name from Latin, a variant of Cecily and Cecilia used since the Middle Ages — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • Latin
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1917
    First appearance
    #4,594 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1918
    Cicely Saunders born
    English writer, doctor, founder of the hospice care movement, palliative care activist
  3. 1924
    Cicely Tyson born
    American actress
  4. 1974
    Peak, #608
    256 babies named Cicely — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1975
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #1,012.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Latin, a variant of Cecily and Cecilia used since the Middle Ages.
Namesakes
  • Cicely Tyson · American actress, 1924–2021
  • Cicely Saunders · English writer, doctor, founder of the hospice care movement, palliative care activist, 1918–2005
  • Cicely Hamilton · British actress and writer, 1872–1952
  • Cicely Courtneidge · English actress and comedian, 1893–1980
  • Cicely Mary Barker · British artist, 1895–1973

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.