Cesilia
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "blind".
Name Census estimates that about 751 living Americans carry the first name Cesilia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cesilia today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cesilia births was 1995 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cesilia. 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.
People living today
751
~ 1 in 456,397 Americans
Peak year
1995
44 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,703
Tracked since 1962
Census
Cesilia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 803 people with the first name Cesilia, which placed it at #14,613 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,613
National first-name rank
People counted
803
803 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
94.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cesilia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cesilia is Hispanic at 94.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Cesilia described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Cesilia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.5% · 759
- White2.2% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 8
- Two or more races0.9% · 7
- Black or African American0.7% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 5
Popularity
Cesilia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cesilia from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 285 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cesilia 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 Cesilia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cesilias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Cesilia, while North Carolina, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 108 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cesilia
The name Cesilia has its origins in ancient Roman culture, derived from the feminine form of the Latin name Caecilius, which was a family name. The Latin root "caec" is believed to be related to the word "caecus," meaning "blind." This connection suggests that the name Cesilia may have initially been associated with physical blindness or a metaphorical sense of blindness or obscurity.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Cesilia gained significance as it was borne by Saint Cecilia, a renowned Roman martyr from the 3rd century AD. According to legend, Cecilia was a noble young woman who dedicated her life to Christ and was eventually martyred for her faith during the reign of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Her name is mentioned in the Roman Canon of the Mass, and she is revered as the patron saint of music and musicians.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Cesilia can be found in the 6th century AD, when a woman named Caesilia appeared in the ecclesiastical records of the city of Ravenna, Italy. This early example suggests that the name was already in use among Christian communities in the region.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Cesilia. In the 12th century, Cesilia of Blois (c. 1092-1142) was a French noblewoman and the daughter of Stephen, Count of Blois. She married Theobald II, Count of Champagne, and played a significant role in the political affairs of the region.
Another notable Cesilia was Cesilia Ramírez (c. 1476-1535), a Spanish mystic and Franciscan nun who was known for her visions and spiritual writings. She is venerated as a Blessed in the Catholic Church.
In the 16th century, Cesilia Gonzaga (1535-1668) was an Italian noblewoman and the daughter of Ferrante I Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla. She served as the regent of the Duchy of Guastalla during the minority of her son, and was renowned for her political acumen and patronage of the arts.
In the 17th century, Cesilia Ponce de León (1590-1665) was a Spanish nun and mystic who founded the Convent of the Conception in Madrid. She was known for her spiritual writings and was beatified by the Catholic Church in 1833.
The name Cesilia also found its way into the arts, with Cesilia Tronsarelli Vigarani (1598-1677), an Italian composer, singer, and lutenist who worked at the court of the Gonzaga family in Mantua. She was one of the most prominent female composers of the early Baroque period.
These examples illustrate the rich history and diverse cultural contexts in which the name Cesilia has been used over the centuries, reflecting its enduring connection to religious devotion, nobility, and artistic expression.
People
Cesilia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cesilia 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
Cesilia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cesilia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 751 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cesilia 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 456,397 US residents.
Is Cesilia a common name?
We classify Cesilia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 778 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cesilia most popular?
The single biggest year for Cesilia was 1995, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cesilia is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cesilia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 803 people with the name Cesilia, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,613 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Cesilia in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Cesilia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cesilia appears almost entirely female. Of the 797 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Cesilia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cesilia is Hispanic at 94.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Cesilia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Cesilia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.5% (759 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Cesilia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cesilia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cesilia 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.
Is Cesilia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cesilia in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Cesilia can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people have the name Cesilia?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.