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đŸ”„Cecilia

Feminine form of Cecil, Latin
"blind"
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Linda Rosenkrantz
By Linda Rosenkrantz
Updated Thu Apr 03 2025

Cecilia Origin and Meaning

The name Cecilia is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "blind".

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.

# 137 in the US

Cecilia Rank in US Top 1000

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# 64 on Nameberry

Cecilia Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

020040060080010002013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025

Popularity of the name Cecilia

20 Names Similar to Cecilia

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

Famous People Named Cecilia

  • Saint Cecilia
    Roman martyr and patroness of musicians
  • Cecilia Gustavsdotter Vasa
    Princess of Sweden; daughter of Gustav I
  • Cecilia
    Princess of Sweden; Grand Duchess of Oldenburg; daughter of Gustav IV Adolf
  • Cecilia Nina Bowes
    Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II
  • Cecilia Peck
    American actress; daughter of Gregory Peck
  • Cecilia Bartoli
    Italian opera singer
  • Cecilia Parker
    American actress
  • (Anna) Cecilia Malmström
    Swedish politician
  • Cecilia Helena Payne
    Gaposchkin, British,American astronomer
  • Cecilia Cheung
    Hong Kong actress
  • Cecilia Törn
    Finnish ice dancer
  • Cecilia Beaux
    American portraitist
  • Cecilia Liu
    Chinese actress
  • Cecilia "Ceci" de la Cueva
    Mexican actress
  • Cecilia DeMille Harper
    daughter of director Cecil B. DeMille
  • Alice Cecilia Linh Svensson
    Swedish singer and Idol 2008 runner,up
  • CĂ©cilia
    Princess of Leiningen (b. 1988), daughter of Prince Karl Emich
  • Cecilia Kowalczyk (b. 2011)
    daughter of musician Ed Kowalczyk of band Live
  • Cecilia Delphine Walton (born 2012)
    daughter of Majandra Delfino and David Walton
  • Cecilia Kate McMahon (b. 2014)
    daughter of singer Andrew McMahon of Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin

The name Cecilia in Pop Culture

  • Cecilia Marie Halpert
    Jim's and Pam's daughter on The Office
  • Cecilia Carol "C.C." Bloom
    character in book/film "Beaches"
  • Cecilia "Cece" Parekh
    character on TV's "New Girl"
  • Cecilia "Cece" Jones
    character on TV's "Shake It Up"
  • Cecilia
    character in film "Aquamarine"
  • Cecilia
    character in The Hunger Games series
  • Cecilia Tallis
    character in Ian McEwan's "Atonement"
  • Cecilia Smith
    character on TV's "7th Heaven"
  • Cecilia Aurora Serendia Marie
    main character in "Palace of Mirrors" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
  • Cecilia Nuthatch
    character in "We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story"
  • Cecilia "Cecil" Grey
    main character in Rumer Godden's novel 'The Greengage Summer'
  • "Cecilia"
    song by Simon & Garfunkel
  • "Cecilia and the Satellite"
    song by Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness; inspired by his daughter Cecilia
  • "Cecilia"
    song by The Vamps and Shawn Mendes

International Variations of the name Cecilia

  • CĂ©cile
    French
  • SĂŹleas
    Scottish
  • Silja
    Finnish
  • Sisel
    Yiddish
  • Zisel
    Yiddish
  • Cecilija
    Slovene
  • SĂ­le
    Irish
  • Caecilia
    German
  • Cecylia
    Polish
  • Cilka
    Slovene
  • Silje
    Danish

The name Cecilia in Nameberry Blog Posts

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