Cecile
A feminine given name of French origin meaning "blind or dim-sighted".
Name Census estimates that about 5,258 living Americans carry the first name Cecile. It is a predominantly female name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Cecile today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cecile births was 1918 (503 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cecile. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Although Cecile is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 191 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
5.3K
~ 1 in 65,187 Americans
Peak year
1918
503 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1952 SSA rank
#3,819
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Cecile
Out of the 20,589 babies given the name Cecile since 1880, 99.1% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Cecile as a male name
- Ranked #3,819 in 1952
- 5 male births in 1952
- Peak: 1923 (12 births)
Cecile as a female name
- Ranked #5,818 in 2024
- 21 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (495 births)
Popularity
Cecile: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cecile from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 4,143 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cecile by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Cecile during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ceciles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. Massachusetts, New York, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Cecile, while West Virginia, Oregon, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 315 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cecile
The given name Cecile has its origins in the Latin language, derived from the Roman family name Caecilius. The name Caecilius itself is believed to have come from the Latin word "caecus," meaning "blind." This connection suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who was visually impaired or perhaps had poor eyesight.
The name Cecile gained widespread popularity in the early days of Christianity, as it was borne by the semi-legendary Saint Cecilia, a Roman martyr from the 3rd century. According to tradition, Cecilia was a young Christian noblewoman who was martyred for her faith during the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Her story and the widespread veneration of Saint Cecilia as the patron saint of music contributed significantly to the name's enduring popularity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cecile can be found in the 6th-century writings of Venantius Fortunatus, a Latin poet and hymnist. In his work, Fortunatus praises the virtues of a young woman named Cecile, further solidifying the name's association with early Christianity.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cecile. One prominent example is Cecile of Normandy (c. 1051-1126), also known as Cecilia, who was the daughter of William the Conqueror and Queen Matilda of Flanders. Another Cecile of note was Cecile Renault (1774-1794), a French revolutionary and revolutionary feminist who was executed during the Reign of Terror.
In the realm of literature, the name Cecile has been immortalized in works such as the novel "Cecile" by Theodor Fontane (1819-1898), a renowned German novelist and poet. The novel's protagonist, a young woman named Cecile, became a symbol of the changing social norms and expectations of the time.
Other notable individuals who have borne the name Cecile include Cecile Chaminade (1857-1944), a French composer and pianist who was one of the first female composers to gain international recognition, and Cecile Fatiman (1904-1983), an American artist and sculptor known for her abstract and figurative works.
People
Cecile + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cecile as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cecile: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cecile?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,258 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cecile going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 65,187 US residents.
Is Cecile a common name?
We classify Cecile as "Rare". It ranks above 96.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 20,589 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cecile most popular?
The single biggest year for Cecile was 1918, when 503 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cecile is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cecile a female name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Cecile in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.