Skip to main content

Cecilia (Cecelia)

Today's name: Cecelia, Cecilia

Pronunciation: seh-SEEL-ya

Potential nicknames: Cece, Cici, Ceil, Celia, Cellie, Cilla, Lia, Cecily, Cicely, Cissy
Variant forms: Ceceilia, Cecely, Cecila, Cecile, Cecilea, Cecilija, Cecilla, Cecille, Cecillia, Cecily, Cicely, Ceila, Ceilena, Ceilia, Cela, Celia, Celie, Cellie, Cescelie, Cescily, Cicelie, Cici, Cicilia, Cicilie, Cicily, Cilka, Cilia, Cilla, Sasilia, Sacilia, Seselia, Seely, Selia, Sesilia, Sessaley, Silke, Sisely, Sissela, Silja, and Zelia. Sheila is related.

Origin: (1) Old Welsh, meaning "sixth," from the name Seissylt. (2) Latin, meaning "blind," from the Latin name Caecilia, the feminine form of Caecilius, also a Roman clan name. The modern male form of this name is Cecil. The Latin version of Cecilia started being used in the 18th century. If you don't like the "blind" meaning, stick with the Old Welsh meaning. (3) When the Normans brought this name to the Christians of England in the Middle Ages, the name became Cecily.

Popularity: Cecilia ranked in at #277 in 2010 with 1,186 births. There were also 373 baby girls named Cecelia, 96 Cecily, 15 Cecillia, 8 Cicily, 20 Cicely, 7 Cicilia and 7 Cece. (Cecilia's ranking has stayed about the same for a decade.)

Fun fact: (1) The blind Saint Cecilia from the 2nd or 3rd century was a virgin martyr known for being the patron saint of music. (2) Without knowing it, this is my 3rd post (Saoirse, Bryony) having to do with the movie Atonement. Cecelia Tallis was one of the characters. (3) Cecilia Jupe from Charles Dickens' Hard Times. (4) Cecilia Lisbon from The Virgin Suicides. (5) A character in The Hunger Games. (6) Opera star Cecilia Bartoli. (7) Cecily Parsley, a rabbit character from a Beatrix Potter story.

.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Galician Baby Names

I grew up on a street that was named an Italian variant of Roger. When I got married and we bought our first house, it turned out to be on Roger Street. Once noting that coincidence, I started searching for other variants of the name. However, female variants turned out to be pretty nonexistent. Save for Roxeria, which I later discovered was the Galician female form, possibly pronounced rohz-AIR-ee-uh. That led me to a few lists of female Galician names, ranging from common to rare. Here is a sampling of names not often heard here in the states... Albina Alda Alma Alodia Aloia Amada Amadora Amalia Amparo Anisia Antia Araceli Aranzazu Artemisa Avelina Azucena Baia Balbina Baltasara Beatriz Benvida Berenice Bieita Branca Braulia Caetana Carola Casilda Casimira Ceferina Celsa Cipriana Cira Clorinda Coralia Cornelia Cosima Davinia Delfina Desideria Dionisia Dominga Dorinda Dorotea Dositea Edelmira Edenia Elba Elvira Emiliana Etelvina ...

Witchy Baby Girl Names!

Circe Invidiosa by John William Waterhouse Have a little girl due in October? Looking to name a character? Here's my [seemingly endless] list of witchy-sounding baby names. Most of them also fit in the "clunky but cool" category, or "vintage." Most plants, trees, herbs, spices, flowers, gems, space and nature names fit the bill, because in stories and current practice these things are useful to witches. I've put any actual witch names from legend, myth, literature, movies, etc in bold and up front. I have not considered the names of actual, living people or their Pagan names, and I've left out any characters that only have a surname, or truly ridiculous given names. In the second half you'll see a list of names that, to my knowledge, have not been used for witch characters. Please know that this is not a complete list. Wikipedia has an almost complete list you can view  here . Tabitha, Samantha, Endora, Clara, Serena  (Bewitched) Katrina...

Ancient Germanic Female Deities

Loki and Idun by John Bauer Here is a list of ancient Germanic goddess and personifications. There is some overlap with the goddesses of the Norse pantheon, and I've limited it to those names that I think would wear well today on modern babies. Of the following names, only the following were used in 2016. Sol was given to 91 girls, Ran to 5 girls, Saga to 9 girls, and Beyla to 6 girls. Beyla - as a possible agricultural personification, her name could mean "cow," "bean," or "bee," but she has been associated with bees and mead, so my guess is "bee." However, there's been a proposed connection to the reconstructed Proto-Norse name Baunila, which means "little bean." This is also a Spanish and Italian girls name. Fulla - possibly means "bountiful." Her other name is Volla, which I think is equally accessible as a name. She is a virgin goddess in Old Norse mythology. Gersemi - means "treasure." Sh...