Cecilia is a saint.  Silk is a fabric.  Today’s choice falls somewhere in between.

Thanks to Bewildertrix for suggesting Silke as Name of the Day.

To an English speaker, an -lke ending doesn’t necessarily sound feminine.  But a handful of Germanic names do end in -lke, usually diminutives.  Adelheidis’ Elke has been covered here before.  You might also come across Ilke, from a form of Helen, and there are probably a few others.

Like Elke and Ilke, Silke’s roots aren’t immediately apparent.  Silke should be pronounced ZIL keh or SIL keh, but outside of Northern Europe there’s a real chance you’ll hear sil KEE – and comments about naming her sisters Velveteen and Calico.

But Silke has roots, and impressive ones.

Back in the Roman Empire, the Caecilii were a big deal.  The family traced their ancestry back to the mythological Caeculus, the son of metalsmith (as in the forge, not the guitar) god Vulcan.  The name is derived from the Latin caecus – blind, and indeed, most tellings of his story suggest that while Caeculus was good with fire just like his pop, he was blinded by smoke while young.

As a family, the Caecilii were making waves in the fifth century BC, and by 284 BC, Lucius Caecilius Metellus Denter became consul.  Dozens of descendants went on to accomplishments right into the second century AD.  Cecilia was the feminine version of the family name.

The Latin Cecilia and older English form Cecily have been big for generations, thanks to a semi-legendary early saint, known for being hard to kill.  Versions of the name have been in use in England since the Norman invasion.  Credit Shakespeare with introducing Celia, via his 1599 comedy As You Like It, as a cousin to heroine Rosalind.  Today, we tend to view Celia as a related name, but she’s actually derived from another bunch of old Roman notables – and comes from the Latin word for heaven.

Silke’s history is considerable, but if I’m reading the comments at vorname.com correctly, she’s not quite fashionable today.  Maybe that’s because several famous Silkes are now in their 30s:

• Silke Hörner won Olympic gold as an East German swimmer in the 1980s;
• Silke Klein is a Spanish-born, Goya-award nominated actress.

You’ll find Silke out in the real world, too.  In Clarksville, Tennesse, Silke’s Old World Breads is a bakery, and yes, there’s a German-born Silke in charge.  Poets, academics and musicians also surface on a Google search, as well as a contestant in Germany’s version of Big Brother.

For English speakers, Silke presents one of those intriguing choices.  She’d be perfectly ordinary in many parts of Europe, but downright distinctive elsewhere.  She’s never appeared in the US Top 1000, even though Cecilia, Celia and plenty of related names do.  Silke poses a slight pronunciation challenge, but not an insurmountable one.  Yes, she’s a nickname – but unlike English diminutives for Cecilia like Sissy or Ceci, Silke stands on her own.

She’s a sleek, tailored and thoroughly European appellation that just might wear well for the daughter of a daring babynamer.