Meaning & origin
What it means
Cecelia is a form of Cecilia. Cecilia possibly goes back to a word meaning “blind.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Cecelia is a form of Cecilia. Cecilia possibly comes from Latin.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Cecelia through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 60,530
- 11 boys · 60,519 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 935 babies
- 2025
- 569
- #529 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +4%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 569 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 529 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 4.3% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 935 in 1918. In 2025, Ohio had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (45). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 31,176 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Cecelia’s family of names
Cecelia has a related form in Cecilia.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Cecelia
- Cecelia AhernIrish novelistborn 1981
- Cecelia WolstenholmeBritish swimmer, Olympic athlete, British Empire Games gold medallist1915–1968
- Cecelia JoyceIrish cricketerborn 1983
- Cecelia HallSound Editor/ Sound Engineerborn 1950
- Cecelia AgerAmerican film critic and reporter1902–1981
- Cecelia Bukari-YakubuGhanaian politician
- Cecelia Conditexperimental filmmaker and film professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (born 1947)
- Bolaji DadaNigerian politicianborn 1966
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Cecelia, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Cecile
Cecile is a feminine given name from French, ultimately from Latin. It is used in English, Cebuano, and Old French.
>99% girls
Stephania
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Cornelia
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Marcella
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>99% girls
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Alta
“to be elevated”
>99% girls
Neva
“from the place covered with snow”
>99% girls