Cecil
From the Roman family name Caecilius, which derives from caecus, blind. Its use in Britain was reinforced by the Welsh name Seisyll and the Cecil family.
Cecil in 2025
Cecil was given to 119 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 3,148th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 27,860 babies born.
The history of Cecil
Cecil reached its highest point in 1920, when 2,672 babies were given the name, ranking 177th that year. Its best-ever ranking was 159th, in 1915.
Across the 146 years of records since 1880, 114,676 babies have been named Cecil. Half of them were born before 1933, which places the name's centre of gravity with the Silent Generation.
Cecil by decade
| Decade | Babies named Cecil | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,000 | 283 |
| 1890s | 2,769 | 182 |
| 1900s | 4,792 | 170 |
| 1910s | 17,799 | 159 |
| 1920s | 24,003 | 177 |
| 1930s | 17,253 | 223 |
| 1940s | 15,392 | 264 |
| 1950s | 12,287 | 370 |
| 1960s | 7,561 | 542 |
| 1970s | 4,255 | 731 |
| 1980s | 3,022 | 878 |
| 1990s | 1,726 | 1,459 |
| 2000s | 1,113 | 2,472 |
| 2010s | 1,016 | 3,167 |
| 2020s | 688 | 3,116 |
Where Cecil is heading
Cecil has held roughly steady over the past decade, from 119 babies in 2015 to 119 in 2025.
That is less than 5% of its 1920 peak — Cecil is now a rare name in the United States.
Names like Cecil
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Cecil.