Cecil

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Cecil: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Cecil: Recorded since 1964, its highest recorded position is #181, and it stood at #2,813 in 2023.

2registrars recorded it
38times a registrar ranked it
60years from first to last
#181highest recorded position
7groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2023

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#2357
1999	#2097
2000	#1889
2005	#3208
2007	#4333
2009	#2318
2010	#3865
2011	#4647
2013	#4685
2014	#3362
2015	#3004
2016	#4810
2017	#3449
2018	#2693
2019	#3937
2020	#2682
2021	#3990
2022	#3048
2023	#2813

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in 19 of the 28 years from 1996 to 2023.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1964–2023 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1965
First recorded at #181 among boys in Republic of Ireland in 1965 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Highest recorded1965–1988
Highest recorded position: #181 among boys in Republic of Ireland, in 1965 (recorded 1965–1988).
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Most recent2023
Most recently recorded at #2813 among boys in England and Wales, in 2023.
England and Wales · Boys

Cecil appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, with 19 ranked years and 94 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Boys, from 1965.

Cecil across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Cecil's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#2357 (1996)	#1889 (2000)	#2813 (2023)	19 of 28	94 (1996–2023)	8 (2009)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#181 (1965)	#181 (1965)	#271 (1988)	18 of 24	86 (1965–1988)	8 (1972)

Cecil by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Cecil in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	9	2 of 10	5
2000s	21	4 of 10	5
2010sbusiest	40	9 of 10	4
2020s	24	4 of 10	6

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2010s were its busiest decade — the 9 years of it this list covers, averaging 4 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Cecil appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1964 to 2023. Highest recorded position: #181 in Republic of Ireland in 1965.

Cecil's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2023	England and Wales	male	#2813	7	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#3048	6	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#3990	4	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#2682	7	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#3937	4	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#2693	7	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#3449	5	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#4810	3	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#3004	6	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#3362	5	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#4685	3	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#4647	3	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#3865	4	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#2318	8	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#4333	3	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#3208	4	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#1889	6	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#2097	5	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#2357	4	High	Verified
1988	Republic of Ireland	male	#271	4	High	Verified
1982	Republic of Ireland	male	#286	4	High	Verified
1981	Republic of Ireland	male	#322	3	High	Verified
1979	Republic of Ireland	male	#292	4	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	male	#326	3	High	Verified
1977	Republic of Ireland	male	#253	6	High	Verified
1976	Republic of Ireland	male	#316	3	High	Verified
1975	Republic of Ireland	male	#321	3	High	Verified
1974	Republic of Ireland	male	#321	3	High	Verified
1973	Republic of Ireland	male	#320	3	High	Verified
1972	Republic of Ireland	male	#219	8	High	Verified
1971	Republic of Ireland	male	#304	3	High	Verified
1970	Republic of Ireland	male	#219	7	High	Verified
1969	Republic of Ireland	male	#216	7	High	Verified
1968	Republic of Ireland	male	#222	5	High	Verified
1967	Republic of Ireland	male	#196	7	High	Verified
1966	Republic of Ireland	male	#199	6	High	Verified
1965	Republic of Ireland	male	#181	7	High	Verified
1964	Republic of Ireland	female	#300	5	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1964 and 2023, ranked in 38 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #181, first reached in 1965.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 8 births, registered in Republic of Ireland in 1972.

Its record falls into 9 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 7 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 32 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Cece · #683, 17y
Cecelia · #189, 44y
Cecilia · #165, 71y
Cecilie · #17, 79y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 2 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Gerrard · #181, 37y
Iwona · #181, 36y
Stacy · #178, 41y
Terese · #184, 40y

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1960 and 1969.

Conrad · #181, 45y
Gerrard · #181, 37y
Mortimer · #181, 26y
Rafael · #181, 53y

Cecil was ranked #181 in Republic of Ireland · Boys in 1965. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Cecil and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Cecil without appearing here.

Cecil moved ahead of

Kristoffer Compare
In 2008 they stood at #4333 and #4333 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2009 that had become #2318 and #4527.
Garry Compare
In 2022 they stood at #3048 and #3048 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #2813 and #4991.
Glenn Compare
In 2022 they stood at #3990 and #2730 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #2813 and #4991.
Kim Compare
In 2014 they stood at #4685 and #3822 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2015 that had become #3004 and #4747.

Moved ahead of Cecil

Theodor Compare
In 2009 they stood at #2318 and #2544 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2010 that had become #3865 and #1201.
Arlo Compare
In 2004 they stood at #1889 and #2142 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2005 that had become #3208 and #766.
Gunnar Compare
In 2015 they stood at #3004 and #3373 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2016 that had become #4810 and #2556.
Gustav Compare
In 2020 they stood at #2682 and #3334 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2021 that had become #3990 and #2125.

Moved the opposite way to Cecil

Aaron Compare
Between 1965 and 1988 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cecil went from #181 to #271 while Aaron went from #222 to #53.
Adam Compare
Between 1965 and 1988 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cecil went from #181 to #271 while Adam went from #157 to #55.
Barry Compare
Between 1965 and 1988 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cecil went from #181 to #271 while Barry went from #77 to #36.
Christopher Compare
Between 1965 and 1988 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cecil went from #181 to #271 while Christopher went from #28 to #16.

Moved the same way as Cecil

Nils Compare
Between 1996 and 2021 in England and Wales · Boys, Cecil went from #2357 to #3990 and Nils from #2020 to #3990.
Anthony Compare
Between 1965 and 1988 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cecil went from #181 to #271 and Anthony from #12 to #23.
Arthur Compare
Between 1965 and 1988 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cecil went from #181 to #271 and Arthur from #91 to #179.
Brendan Compare
Between 1965 and 1988 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cecil went from #181 to #271 and Brendan from #16 to #39.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1964 to 2023. Highest recorded position: #181 in Republic of Ireland in 1965. Source data last verified 2026-07-25.

Cecil

Cecil at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Cecil across 2 official records

Cecil by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Cecil appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Cecil

Cecil and the names beside it

Cecil moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Cecil

Moved the opposite way to Cecil

Moved the same way as Cecil

Cecil at a glance

Cecil across 2 official records

Cecil by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Cecil appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Cecil

Cecil and the names beside it

Cecil moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Cecil

Moved the opposite way to Cecil

Moved the same way as Cecil