Cecilia
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Cecilia
Cecilia is a lovely classic name deservedly enjoying a new turn in the sun. Always among the Top 500 girls' names in the US, Cecilia is now at its highest point ever.
Cecilia is a feminine form of Cecil, which was derived from a Roman clan name related to the Latin caecus, meaning "blind". While that may put some parents off, we say put that ancient meaning aside and focus on Cecilia's symbolic resonance in the contemporary world as a classy and classic name.
The martyred Saint Cecilia was designated the patron of musicians, either because she supposedly sang directly to God while the musicians played at her wedding, or because she sang to God as she was dying. The name was popularized in the Middle Ages as an homage to the Saint.
On TV, the Cecelia spelling variation was the name chosen for Pam and Jim's baby on The Office; in real life the name of the daughters of Vera Wang and Soledad O'Brien.
Cecilia is also a Dickens character name in Hard Times, and appears in the novels Atonement and The Virgin Suicides, and The Hunger Games series, as well as being the subject of a memorable Simon & Garfunkel song.
Cecilia, Celia and Cecily are all nameberry faves. Cecelia is an accepted spelling variation you may want to consider if you plan to shorten the name to Celia or Cece.
Cecilia is also given to boys.
Pronounced suh-SEEL-yuh.
As of October 2026, Cecilia ranked #108 in US births in 2025 SSA, Nameberry popularity #58.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #206 | 1,640 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #181 | 1,782 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #177 | 1,827 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #168 | 1,815 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #155 | 1,809 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #153 | 1,861 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #147 | 1,859 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #133 | 2,095 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #145 | 2,006 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #137 | 2,057 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #123 | 2,238 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #108 | 2,506 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Cecilia.
Cecilia on lists
Famous Cecilias
- Saint CeciliaGirl
Roman martyr and patroness of musicians
- Cecilia Gustavsdotter VasaGirl
Princess of Sweden; daughter of Gustav I
- CeciliaGirl
Princess of Sweden; Grand Duchess of Oldenburg; daughter of Gustav IV Adolf
- Cecilia Nina BowesGirl
Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II
- Cecilia PeckGirl
American actress; daughter of Gregory Peck
- Cecilia BartoliGirl
Italian opera singer
- Cecilia ParkerGirl
American actress
- (Anna) Cecilia MalmströmGirl
Swedish politician
- Cecilia Helena PayneGirl
Gaposchkin, British,American astronomer
- Cecilia CheungGirl
Hong Kong actress
- Cecilia TörnGirl
Finnish ice dancer
- Cecilia BeauxGirl
American portraitist
- Cecilia LiuGirl
Chinese actress
- Cecilia "Ceci" de la CuevaGirl
Mexican actress
- Cecilia DeMille HarperGirl
daughter of director Cecil B. DeMille
- Alice Cecilia Linh SvenssonGirl
Swedish singer and Idol 2008 runner,up
- CéciliaGirl
Princess of Leiningen (b. 1988), daughter of Prince Karl Emich
- Cecilia Kowalczyk (b. 2011)Girl
daughter of musician Ed Kowalczyk of band Live
- Cecilia Delphine Walton (born 2012)Girl
daughter of Majandra Delfino and David Walton
- Cecilia Kate McMahon (b. 2014)Girl
daughter of singer Andrew McMahon of Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin
- Cecilia L. RidgewayGirl
American sociologist
Cecilia in pop culture
- Cecilia Marie HalpertGirl
Jim's and Pam's daughter on The Office
- Cecilia Carol "C.C." BloomGirl
character in book/film "Beaches"
- Cecilia "Cece" ParekhGirl
character on TV's "New Girl"
- Cecilia "Cece" JonesGirl
character on TV's "Shake It Up"
- CeciliaGirl
character in film "Aquamarine"
- CeciliaGirl
character in The Hunger Games series
- Cecilia TallisGirl
character in Ian McEwan's "Atonement"
- Cecilia SmithGirl
character on TV's "7th Heaven"
- Cecilia Aurora Serendia MarieGirl
main character in "Palace of Mirrors" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
- Cecilia NuthatchGirl
character in "We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story"
- Cecilia "Cecil" GreyGirl
main character in Rumer Godden's novel 'The Greengage Summer'
- "Cecilia"Girl
song by Simon & Garfunkel
- "Cecilia and the Satellite"Girl
song by Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness; inspired by his daughter Cecilia
- "Cecilia"Girl
song by The Vamps and Shawn Mendes