The baby name Cecily combines medieval roots with an enduring sound.
Thanks to Lola and Jennifer for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
FROM ROME to ENGLAND
The baby name Cecily comes from the Roman Caecilius, which means blind.
A handful of famous ancient figures have worn the name, including Lucius Caecilius Iucundus. Iucundus worked as a banker and lived in Pompeii. Part of his house still stands among the ruins. A character based on Caecilius is used for a famous series of Latin textbooks; fans of Doctor Who might also recognize the name.
As a given name, Caecilius survives mostly as Cecilia today. Credit to Saint Cecilia. Around the year 300, legend tells, the noblewoman Cecilia died a martyr for her faith. As she died, she sang out to praise God – making her the patron saint of musicians.
Cecilia remained popular across the centuries. The saint is mentioned by name in the Canon of the Mass, meaning this name was heard across time and place.
During the Middle Ages, English given names often ended with -y, at least in everyday use. Another famous example: Margaret became Margery.
And so Cecily arrived in medieval England, and was even used by the royal family.
- In the 1400s, Cecily Neville was Duchess of York and mother of two future kings of England: Edward IV and Richard III. (Her signature suggests that she spelled her name Cecylle.)
- King Edward IV named one of his daughters Cecily in honor of his mother.
- There;s also Cecily Bonville, a baroness and heiress in fifteenth century England.
- Cecily Bodenham served as Abbess of Wilton until Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.
EMILY, NATALIE, DESTINY, MACKENZIE
From the Middle Ages to today, we’ve often embraced three-syllable, ends-with-Y names for our daughters.
There’s classic Emily, of course, as well as:
- 20th century staples like Natalie, Kimberly, and Valerie
- Vintage darlings like Rosalie
- Modern noun names like Destiny and Melody
- Stylish surname choices like Mackenzie
The current US Top 100 includes Avery, Everly, Emery, and Kennedy, as well as Leilani – one of several Hawaiian-inspired choices rising in use.
Cecily would fit right in.
HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME CECILY?
Despite Cecily’s style match, the name remains quite rare.
The baby name Cecily appeared in the US Top 1000 in 1974, and again from 1988 to 1991. But as of 2023, it was given to just 110 girls. That’s well outside of the current rankings, and surprisingly rare.
As for spelling Cicely? As of 2023, just eight girls received the name.
Instead, it’s Cecilia that has ranked in the US Top 200 since 2015, and continues to gain in use.
FAMOUS USES of CECILY: PLACE NAME, CHARACTER, and MORE
Despite the name’s sparing use, it’s possible to think of several high profile uses of Cecily.
- Cecily Cardew is one of the characters in Oscar Wilde’s enduring work, The Importance of Being Earnest.
- Nineteenth century writer and suffragist Cecily Hamilton is remembered for penning the lyrics to the “The March of the Women.”
- World War II heroine Cecily Lefort, who was part of sabotage efforts in occupied France.
It was a Cicely, though, that sent the baby name Cecily into the US Top 1000 for the first time.
CICELY TYSON
Born in New York City, Cicely Tyson started out as a model before acting in a few small movie roles, as well as on soap opera The Guiding Light. By 1972, Tyson was a major star, thanks to her Academy Award-nominated role in Sounder. She’d earn an Emmy as the star of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, the story of a former slave who lived to see the Civil Rights Movement.
No surprise that her name spiked in use, both the spelling she preferred – Cicely – as well as Cecily.
What explains the second bump for the baby name Cecily, in the late 1980s?
Hit television series Northern Exposure took place in the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska … but the show debuted in 1990, and Cecily started a rapid rise in 1987.
This time, credit goes to a soap opera. All My Children introduced Cecily in 1987, a troubled teen with a trust fund.
There’s also 84 Charing Cross Road, the movie version of a stage play based on a 1970 memoir. The cast was a who’s who of British film: Judi Dench, Anthony Hopkins. And the 1987 movie, as well as the memoir, still has its fans.
But that spike in use? That’s down to Cecily Davidson Brent of Pine Valley, and all the drama, romance, and intrigue the soap opera character endured.
GOSSIP GIRL
Parents now likely have a different reference point for the baby name Cecily.
Cecily von Ziegesar created Gossip Girl, a book series that became a wildly successful teen drama from 1997 to 2002. It also helped launch the careers of Penn Badgley and Blake Lively. Another series set in the same universe ran on HBO Max from 2021 to 2023.
The author based the story on her own experiences at the exclusive New York City Nightingale-Bamford School, the inspiration for Constance Billiard School for Girls.
While the author isn’t nearly as well-known as her characters, her given name has the same vaguely European, upper crust energy.
OLD-FASHIONED CHARM
The baby name Cecily could fit with other aristocratic picks. Think Cosima or Georgina.
But in the US, it reads a little more old-fashioned charm. Cecily is a successor to Emily, Abigail, and Hannah. The name is pretty and prim, a lady-like choice less expected than Charlotte, as traditional as Eleanor.
Given the rise of Cecilia, it’s possible Cecily could follow.
Nickname options Cece – or Ceci – transforms delicate Cecily into a high-energy, spirited choice, combining the best of both styles into one graceful, surprisingly underused name.
What do you think of the baby name Cecily?
Originally published on October 25, 2008 and substantially revised on November 5, 2012 and again on August 13, 2024.
My name is Cecily and I am always getting mistaken for my name to be Natalie or Bethany and I hate it. I wish someone could just get my name right without going into madness of other names. Some of my friends from school sometimes call me celery the vegetable and make fun of me or they start singing Cecil is my catapillar song and I hate it so much I hope they stop. I can’t wait to get out of here.
Such a pretty name, but I have to say it slowly and carefully or it ends up sounding like I have a thistle in my throat! 🙂
Great timing. My Cecily will turn 7 next week. I first saw the name in “The Importance of Being Earnest”. My husband liked the name from The Road to Avonlea show from when he saw it as a kid. It fits our little girl perfectly.
I, too, am puzzled that it’s still not a top 1000 name. I think it fits perfectly into current trends and sounds.
My primary reference for Cecily is the youngest of the King siblings in Road to Avonlea (she’s also in the show’s source, Montgomery’s _The Story Girl_). I’ve always thought it a pretty name, although in a way I’m more fond of the male form Cecil. Cecilia is just a little too frilly for me and Celia’s too brief, so Cecily is my favourite version of the girls’ name.
Not that I could seriously consider any of the above for a child since we used to have a cat named Cecil. . .
WDYT of Cecily as NN for Cecilia?
Cecily is one of my faves on the “gorgeous for someone else” list. I’m more of a polka dot dress namer and Cecily is too lacy for me. But I’d love for my baby to come home from camp besties with a Ceci. 🙂
Yes, alot of people call me Sicily…..I think they can’t hear the subtle difference between that and Cecily. Once I spell it for people, they usually get it.
According to an alumni newsletter, one of my college classmates has a daughter named Sicily. :-/
Cecily is lovely, Sicily makes me think of the Godfather movies.
I am in love with Celcilia. It’s my #1 pick right now. Not too sure on Cecily. Whenever I say it in my head I expect it to be spelled Sicily.
My name is Cecily…….so it was interesting to read this blog. . . . . Named after St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, in part because my Father is a musician. My Mother sought unusual names for her 8 children because she had 6 other classmates named Dorothy. My name never became popular as did some of my siblings …Megan, Seth, Jeremy, Lise, Jonathan, ….whose names were unique at the time. My relatives called me Ceci for the longest time til I put up a stink, but Aunt MaryAnn still calls me that. Now, I don’t mind because it’s endearing. I like my name because it is very different…..maybe sounds pretentious, but I’m not……I’m very down to earth (Virgo), friendly, fun and funny…I found out the name is Gaelic origin just last year. After having this name since 1953, I have only known of, met, or heard of half a dozen other Cecily’s. I don’t like the name Cicely, it seems mis-spelled. I knew someone named Sessily (her Mother made it up)….In graduate school, one professor thought I was the black student in the class (think Cicely Tyson, actress), sometimes people think I’m from Italy (Sicily)…so there can always be confusion but, oh well, I have been called ALOT of things, including cess-pool, Cecil, so-silly, Sesilie, and Celeste. when I travel in Spain or Mexico, my spanish name is Celia because it sounds much nicer and simpler than Cecilia. Anyway, good luck choosing a name.
My official birth certificate name is: Cecily Ann Mary (gotta get the Virgin in there)…..