Girls' name · since 1880
Cecile
Cecile has 20,421 recorded births since 1880 in federal Social Security data, most heavily in 1918 -- full year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state rankings follow.
- #1,053 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #5,557 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 20,421
- born since 1880
- 1920s
- peak decade
Cecile currently ranks #5557 among girls' names in America, with 20,421 babies recorded since 1880.
Cecile has 20,421 recorded births among girls since 1880, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #5557 as of the latest data, more common than 68% of girls, busiest in the 1920s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.
- #1,053 of 72,339 all-time among girls
- #5,557 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
- 20,421 born since 1880
- 1920s peak decade
Data updated Aug 2026
The verdict
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Cecile ranks #1,053 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #5,557 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 20,421 born since 1880, peaking in the 1920s.
- #1,053 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #5,557 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 20,421
- born since 1880
- 1920s
- peak decade
Cecile's 20,421 recorded births place it above 98.54% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.
41 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by Massachusetts.
How Cecile compares
20,421 Top 6% higher than 94% of 17,297 names currently given to girls
Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.
Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data
How the numbers stack up
Cecile's all-time total is 54x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.
| Metric | Cecile | Median girls name (Kyann) | #1 girls name (Olivia) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time total births | 20,421 | 376 | 567,345 |
| Peak-year births | 495 | 21 | 19,840 |
Cecile's usage pattern, beyond the headline number
Cecile splits its recorded history at 1953: 19% of all births land in the more recent half, 81% in the earlier half, leaning more toward its earlier era than today's. The single quietest year was 2023 (16 births) -- compare that against the 1918 peak of 495 for a sense of just how much the name's popularity has swung.
Cecile popularity over time - girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025
- Peak year (1918)
- 495
- Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
Cecile popularity over time - boys
191 total births recorded since 1915 (Cecile as boys' name)
Cecile by decade
1920s is the heaviest window (4,067 births, 20% of the file).
1920s was Cecile's strongest decade.
4,067 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 20% of all-time use.
Cecile births by decade
Total births in each ten-year window
- 1880s 389
1880s
389 births
- 1890s 1,123
1890s
1,123 births
- 1900s
1900s
1,642 births
- 1910s
1910s
3,613 births
- 1920s
1920s
4,067 births
- 1930s
1930s
2,825 births
- 1940s
1940s
2,396 births
- 1950s
1950s
1,810 births
- 1960s 895
1960s
895 births
- 1970s 335
1970s
335 births
- 1980s 402
1980s
402 births
- 1990s 295
1990s
295 births
- 2000s 262
2000s
262 births
- 2010s 237
2010s
237 births
- 2020s 130
2020s
130 births
What this shows Peak: 1920s at 4,067 births (20% of all-time use).
How Cecile compares to similarly-sized names
Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Cecile's total volume
Cecile by state
Where Cecile concentrates geographically, total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Massachusetts | | 1,978 | 9.7% |
| #2 | New York | | 1,510 | 7.4% |
| #3 | Louisiana | | 1,443 | 7.1% |
| #4 | Maine | | 1,017 | 5.0% |
| #5 | New Hampshire | | 780 | 3.8% |
| #6 | California | | 743 | 3.6% |
| #7 | Rhode Island | | 613 | 3.0% |
| #8 | Illinois | | 573 | 2.8% |
1,978 of 20,421 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 41 reporting states.
Cecile appears in 41 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
How popular is the name Cecile? ▼
Where does Cecile sit in the SSA name archive? ▼
When was Cecile most popular? ▼
Where is Cecile most popular? ▼
How long has the name Cecile been used? ▼
What names are similar to Cecile? ▼
What to do with Cecile's data
- Cecile's decade-level peak was the 1920s (4,067 total births); usage has since declined to 130 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
- Massachusetts records the most Ceciles (1,978 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. Massachusetts names
Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.
Keep exploring Cecile
Nearby Names Like Cecile
Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Cecile
Compare Cecile side by side: Cecile vs Cecilia Cecile vs Cecelia Cecile vs Cecily
Related Names
Names with a similar popularity rank to Cecile
Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span
Two nationwide peer axes for Cecile: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.
Similar peak year (~1918)
Similar record span (~145 yrs)
Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.
Data Sources
Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).
Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Cecile draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.