Meaning and history
Latinate feminine form of the Roman family name Caecilius, from Latin caecus meaning “blind.” The name is associated with Saint Cecilia, a semi-legendary 2nd- or 3rd-century Christian martyr who was sentenced to death for refusing to worship the Roman gods; when suffocation failed, she was beheaded, and she later became the patron saint of music and musicians. Because of her popularity, the name spread widely in the Christian world during the Middle Ages, was brought to England by the Normans, and was commonly spelled Cecily there until the Latinate form Cecilia came into use in the 18th century. Frances Burney used it for the title character of her 1782 novel Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress.
20062006: 1,245 births, rank #264
2007: 1,242 births, rank #276
2008: 1,259 births, rank #271
2009: 1,235 births, rank #266
2010: 1,202 births, rank #277
20112011: 1,317 births, rank #242
2012: 1,463 births, rank #215
2013: 1,434 births, rank #224
2014: 1,640 births, rank #206
2015: 1,782 births, rank #181
20162016: 1,827 births, rank #177
2017: 1,815 births, rank #168
2018: 1,809 births, rank #155
2019: 1,861 births, rank #153
2020: 1,860 births, rank #147
20212021: 2,095 births, rank #133
2022: 2,006 births, rank #145
2023: 2,058 births, rank #137
2024: 2,248 births, rank #123
20252025: 2,506 births, rank #108
Cecilia rose from #123 to #108 for girls between 2024 and 2025. That year also produced its highest recorded birth count, at 2,506.