Cecil

“Blind” — Latin origin

Boy's name · #1486 in the US (2025) · Heirloom

Cecil is an heirloom: its strongest era came around 1902, when it ranked #65. It has thinned since but never left the records — about 107,000 boys since 1880, ranked #1486 today. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Around the world: about 1 in 18,000 boys in Canada (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 11 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Cecils

Cecil John Rhodes — British businessman, mining magnate and politician in South Africa (1853-1902)
Cecil Frank Powell — British physicist
Cecil B. DeMille — American film director, producer and actor (1881–1959)
Cecil Beaton — British photographer, designer, socialite, writer (1904–1980)
Cecil Day-Lewis — Irish-born British poet (1904–1972)

In stories & tradition

Cecil Terwilliger — The Simpsons
Cecil Turtle — Tortoise Beats Hare
Cecil Palmer — Welcome to Night Vale · Pilot

What Cecils become

Among 1,025 notable people named Cecil:

Military figures appear 2.79× more often than among typical names — e.g. Cecil Callaghan, Australian Army officer.

Similar names: Morris · Chester · Pete · Virgil · Will · Charley

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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