Cecilia

Cecilia comes from Caecilia, the feminine form of Caecilius, the name of an old Roman family. The family name may come from caecus, the Latin word for blind, though this is not certain. The name spread through the fame of Saint Cecilia, an early Roman martyr who became the patron saint of music.

Cecilia has a close Irish connection. In Irish it became Síle, which in turn was written in English as Sheila, so Sheila and Cecilia are the same name at root.

The name was given to a steady number of Irish girls in the 1960s and 1970s, then became rare for a long time. It has come back strongly in the 2020s. In 2025, 22 girls were named Cecilia, putting it at number 199 once its spellings are combined. The CSO counts spellings separately: 12 girls were registered as Cecilia and 10 as Cecília, with an accent. In Northern Ireland it reached number 259 in 2025, its best rank there.