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NameAlmanac

Cecilia

Girls’ name Recorded 1880-2025

Cecilia was given to 2,506 girls in 2025, #108 among girls’ names; 111,688 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).

An estimated 83,200 Americans named Cecilia and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (75% of everyone recorded); the median is 27 years old and half are between 11 and 56.

Babies named Cecilia each year, first recorded in 1880
Cecilia, 1880-2025; highest in 2025.1k2k3k188019001920194019601980200020252025 peak: 2,506
Cecilia, 1880-2025; highest in 2025.1k2k3k188019001920194019601980200020252025 peak: 2,506
Cecilia, 1880-2025; highest in 2025.1k2k3k18801905193019551980200520252025 peak: 2,506
Cecilia, 1880-2025; highest in 2025.1k2k3k18801930198020252025 peak: 2,506

Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).

Cecilia or CeceliaNames of the 2020sNames in California

Births of Cecilia by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

What does Cecilia mean?

Wiktionary, English section

Cecilia is “a female given name from Latin.” Its etymology gives the sense “blind” (caecus).

From Latin Caecilia, feminine form of Caecilius, a Roman family name possibly derived from the byname caecus (“blind”). Popularized by Saint Cecilia, third century Roman martyr, the patron saint of music. Doublet of Sheila.

/sɪˈsiːli.ə/

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary, entry Cecilia (English), CC BY‑SA 4.0. Quoted from the entry; text after a cross-reference to another sense is left out.

Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).

How popular is Cecilia?

#108 among girls’ names, 2025

Cecilia rose from #181 in 2015 to #108 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 1.0 to 1.6 per 1,000.

2,506 babies in 2025, the peak

Cecilia peaked in 2025, when 2,506 girls were given it, #108 among girls’ names. In 2024 it went to 2,248 girls.

Cecilia by year
YearBirthsRankPer 1,000 girls
20252,506#1081.6
20242,248#1231.4
20232,058#1371.3
20222,006#1451.2
20212,095#1331.3
20201,860#1471.2
20191,861#1531.1
20181,809#1551.1
20171,815#1681.1
20161,827#1771.0
Every recorded year (146)
YearBirthsRankPer 1,000 girls
20151,782#1811.0
20141,640#2060.92
20131,434#2240.82
20121,463#2150.83
20111,317#2420.75
20101,202#2770.68
20091,235#2660.67
20081,259#2710.67
20071,242#2760.65
20061,245#2640.65
20051,189#2810.64
20041,178#2790.64
20031,162#2710.64
20021,171#2690.65
20011,166#2690.65
20001,137#2830.63
19991,103#2850.62
19981,053#2850.60
1997962#3000.55
19961,072#2690.61
19951,128#2510.64
1994969#2860.54
1993998#2780.55
19921,017#2750.55
1991965#2910.51
1990847#3260.45
1989810#3140.44
1988728#3370.41
1987743#3290.43
1986686#3490.40
1985657#3580.38
1984723#3250.43
1983640#3520.38
1982664#3530.39
1981683#3420.41
1980654#3610.39
1979636#3560.40
1978556#3790.36
1977520#3990.34
1976516#3970.35
1975512#3990.35
1974539#3860.37
1973501#4010.34
1972569#3760.37
1971599#3830.36
1970621#3830.36
1969545#4060.32
1968550#3900.34
1967620#3600.38
1966644#3570.38
1965733#3320.42
1964835#3280.44
1963869#3170.45
19621,055#2770.54
1961965#2970.48
19601,036#2830.51
19591,042#2750.51
19581,002#2790.50
19571,057#2660.52
1956997#2720.50
19551,004#2700.51
1954984#2670.51
19531,038#2520.55
1952984#2500.53
1951954#2470.53
1950921#2490.54
1949944#2420.55
1948955#2410.56
1947973#2420.55
1946802#2500.51
1945656#2640.50
1944704#2580.53
1943842#2330.60
1942831#2330.62
1941670#2510.55
1940629#2520.55
1939562#2610.51
1938549#2680.50
1937560#2620.53
1936507#2690.49
1935487#2740.46
1934438#2960.42
1933431#2910.43
1932468#2870.44
1931459#2910.43
1930567#2620.50
1929500#2900.45
1928570#2720.49
1927654#2580.55
1926717#2460.60
1925705#2510.58
1924768#2370.61
1923742#2380.62
1922733#2400.61
1921761#2360.62
1920757#2380.63
1919746#2280.66
1918755#2290.65
1917704#2330.65
1916685#2330.66
1915723#2210.73
1914525#2340.69
1913485#2140.78
1912453#2100.81
1911342#2070.82
1910287#2260.72
1909257#2210.74
1908263#2060.79
1907234#2150.73
1906219#2080.74
1905237#1970.81
1904250#1900.91
1903218#1920.83
1902195#2150.74
1901196#2030.82
1900249#1990.83
1899205#1950.88
1898213#2020.82
1897160#2140.68
1896168#2130.71
1895138#2320.59
1894144#2210.65
1893126#2350.59
1892138#2210.65
1891121#2190.65
189091#2620.48
188989#2470.50
188897#2340.54
188783#2280.57
188668#2520.47
188571#2370.53
188463#2390.49
188339#2820.35
188237#2900.34
188139#2570.42
188044#2330.48

Download Cecilia’s births by year (CSV)

Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.

Is Cecilia a boy’s or a girl’s name?

Cecilia has been given almost only to girls: 177 boys in 146 years of records.

Girls and boys named Cecilia: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.

How many people are named Cecilia, and how old are they?

83,200 alive in 2026, estimated

That is 75% of the 111,688 Americans ever recorded as Cecilia. The median Cecilia alive today is 27 years old; half are between 11 and 56.

The 2020 Census counted 109,389 people named Cecilia (109,197 women and girls, 192 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 74,792 born in the U.S. The Census count is 46% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.

Alive today, by age

100-10949
90-99651
80-893,230
70-797,160
60-697,860
50-595,150
40-496,170
30-399,070
20-29 (median)11,200
10-1914,300
0-918,200

Alive today, by generation

By generation
GenerationBornAlive
Silent Generation1928-19453,370
Baby Boomers1946-196414,300
Generation X1965-19808,670
Millennials1981-199613,100
Generation Z1997-201218,900
Generation Alpha2013-202524,800

An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.

Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).

Where are babies named Cecilia born?

The states with the most babies named Cecilia are Texas, California and New York, with 23% of its births recorded by state in 2025.

States with the most births: girls and boys together; rank among girls’ names in the state in 2025
StateBirths 2025Rank, girlsvs. national
Texas250#1271.5×
California186#1731.6×
New York150#930.9×
Florida144#1250.8×
Pennsylvania116#740.9×
Ohio113#800.8×
New Jersey107#630.9×
Illinois104#791.0×
Massachusetts101#500.9×
Michigan98#680.9×

Where Cecilia is more common than its national share predicts

Relative to its national share, Cecilia is most over-represented in New Mexico: since 1910 it was given 3.0 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.

New Mexico2.95×
Arizona1.72×
California1.61×
Texas1.47×
Colorado1.15×
Hawaii1.13×

Bars start at 1× (as often as the national share predicts).

States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Cecilia with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.

Names spelled alike

Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 260,563 babies since 1880, Cecilia is the most given (43% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,506 of their 3,585 babies (70%), again the most given.

Cecilia and the names spelled alike
NameSince 1880Births 2025Peak year
Cecilia111,6882,5062025
Cecelia60,5305691918
Celia56,7163511915
Cecile20,612221918
Cecily8,6731371989
Cecille984under 51942
Cecila804under 51970
Cecillia556under 52007

Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.

Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Cecilia

Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.

NameRecorded1880-2025
Rhea20,145
Adela14,105
Naomi191,837

Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

More about Cecilia and names like it

  1. Compare Cecilia and CeceliaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
  2. The most given names of the 2020sCecilia peaked in 2025.
  3. California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Cecilia since 1910.
  4. Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Cecilia: every such name, by how often it is given.
  5. The top names of 2025The year the most babies were named Cecilia.
  6. The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Cecilia alive today were born 2013-2025.
  7. Names starting with CMost given first.

Compare Cecilia with another name