Celia

Latin

"heavenly"

Celia Origin and Meaning

The name Celia is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "heavenly".

Celia, splendidly sleek and feminine, is a name that was scattered throughout Shakespeare and other Elizabethan literature, but still manages to feel totally modern. Derived from the Latin Caelius, it means "heavenly".

Shakespeare has been credited with introducing Celia in As You Like It, and it was to Celia that the poet Ben Jonson penned the immortal line, "Drink to me only with thine eyes." Other literary Celias have appeared in works ranging from George Eliot's Middlemarch to T. S. Eliot's The Cocktail Party to Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin

While Celia has a similar sound to Cecilia, and may well be used as a short form of the longer name, the two have different roots. Cecilia comes from the Latin caecus meaning "blind", while Celia is from caelum meaning "heaven".

Familiar but not overused, Celia has been in the US Top 1000 since records began in the 1880s, however, it has been outside the Top 500 since the 60s. Also in the England and Wales Top 1000, it is a favorite in Spain, France, and Belgium. Said as SEE-lee-uh or SEEL-yuh among English speakers, in Spanish, it may be pronounced THEHL-ya or SEHL-ya, depending on region.

A bit of trivia: Celia is an anagram of Alice, meaning it could potentially work as an honor name.

Celia Rank in US Top 1000

# 734 in the US

Celia Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 174 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Celia

• 734 US 2024
• 174 Nameberry 2025
• 898 Future 2028
• 756 England 2024
• 476 Germany 2016
• 53 Spain 2023

20 Names Similar to Celia

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Celia.

• Vivienne
• Emmeline
• Vivian
• Colette
• Fiona
• Cecilia
• Lydia
• Felicity
• Gwendolyn
• Cecily
• Vera
• Genevieve
• Francesca
• Helena
• Lucia
• Eleanora
• Rosalie
• Camille
• Elaine
• Amelie

Famous People Named Celia

• (Úrsula Hilaria) Celia de la Caridad Cruz (Alfonso) Cuban,American singer
• Celia Elizabeth Johnson English actress
• Celia Feinman Adler American actress
• Celia Diana Savile Imrie English actress
• Celia Keenan Bolger, American actress and singer
• Celia Weston American actress
• Celia Mei Rubin American actress
• Celia Sánchez (Manduley) Cuban revolutionary
• Celia Calderón Mexican painter

The name Celia in Pop Culture

• Celia character in Shakespeare's "As You Like It'
• Celia character in Jonathan Swift's "The Lady's Dressing Room"
• Celia Bowen character in Erin Morgenstern's "The Night Circus"
• Celia Brooke character in "Middlemarch" by George Eliot
• Celia Coplestone from T.S. Eliot's "The Cocktail Party"
• Celia Foote character in Kathryn Stockett's "The Help"
• Celia Dawson character on TV's "Last Tango in Halifax"
• Celia Stewart character on Australian soap "Home & Away"
• Celia Hodes character on TV's "Weeds"
• Celia May character in Pixar's "Monsters, Inc."
• Celia Plaskett character in film "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
• Celia Solis character on TV's "Desperate Housewives"
• Cousin Celia character in film "Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang"
• Celia Lytton character in film "Spoils of Time" trilogy by Penny Vincenzi
• Celia Mack character on TV's "Andi Mack"
• Celia Hamilton character from the "Mandie" series
• Celia Penderghast character in video game "inFAMOUS: Second Son"
• Celia Catherine "CeCe" Rhodes character on TV's 'Gossip Girl'
• Celia character in the video game "Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life"
• Celia daughter of Dr. Facilier in Disney's "Descendants 3"
• Celia Ripley character in podcast "The Magnus Protocol"