Cylee
A feminine name of Welsh origin meaning "pathway" or "wandering".
Name Census estimates that about 401 living Americans carry the first name Cylee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cylee today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cylee births was 2007 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cylee. 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
401
~ 1 in 854,749 Americans
Peak year
2007
28 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,813
Tracked since 1989
Popularity
Cylee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cylee from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 179 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cylee 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 Cylee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cylees live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cylee
The given name Cylee has its origins in ancient Mesopotamia, specifically in the Sumerian and Akkadian civilizations that flourished in the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers around 3500-2000 BCE. It is derived from the Akkadian word "silu," which means "protection" or "shelter."
One of the earliest known references to the name Cylee can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the earliest surviving works of literature, dating back to around 2100 BCE. In this epic poem, Cylee is mentioned as the name of a minor deity associated with protecting households and families.
During the reign of the Babylonian king Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE), there are records of individuals bearing the name Cylee in cuneiform inscriptions. One notable example is Cylee of Ur, a prominent merchant and landowner who lived during this period.
In ancient Greece, there are accounts of a woman named Cylee who was a priestess in the temple of Artemis in Ephesus during the 5th century BCE. She is believed to have been influential in promoting the worship of the goddess Artemis, who was associated with protecting women and childbirth.
In the Middle Ages, there are records of a Cylee who was a nun in a Benedictine monastery in what is now southern France. She is believed to have lived in the 9th century CE and is known for her dedication to helping the poor and destitute in the surrounding areas.
During the Renaissance, a woman named Cylee Visconti (1370-1424) was a prominent figure in the court of Milan, Italy. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for artists and scholars of the time.
Another notable individual with the name Cylee was Cylee Sedgwick (1789-1867), an American educator and writer who was a pioneer in promoting women's education and advocating for the abolition of slavery in the United States.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the given name Cylee, a name with roots that can be traced back to ancient civilizations in the Middle East and a meaning that has long been associated with protection and shelter.
People
Cylee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cylee 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
Cylee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cylee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 401 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cylee 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 854,749 US residents.
Is Cylee a common name?
We classify Cylee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 406 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cylee most popular?
The single biggest year for Cylee was 2007, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cylee is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cylee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cylee 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.