Cecilia

Meaning: (Latinate feminine form of the Roman family name Caecilius, which was derived from Latin caecus "blind". Saint Cecilia was a semi-legendary 2nd- or 3rd-century martyr who was sentenced to die because she refused to worship the Roman gods. After attempts to suffocate her failed, she was beheaded. She was later regarded as the patron saint of music and musicians.

Due to the popularity of the saint, the name became common in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. The Normans brought it to England, where it was commonly spelled Cecily - the Latinate form Cecilia came into use in the 18th century.)

Origin: (English, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch, German, Latin)

Pronunciation: (sə-SEE-lee-ə (English), sə-SEEL-yə (English), che-CHEE-lyah (Italian), the-THEE-lyah (Spanish), se-SEE-lyah (Latin American Spanish), SE-see-lee-ah (Finnish), sess-seel’yah (English))

Gender: Female

I have never been a huge fan of this name because I didn’t care for the pronunciation but since looking up Shyla *see on list of posts* and it being a variant of it I like it a bit. Though I don’t like the meaning which is a bit off putting and not at all pretty. It has an interesting look and it has an old history which would make this name an ideal name in a Historical Fiction novel. I have heard this name a few times on TV but perhaps that is why I don’t care for it either as the people named this weren’t so great, one was a killer. Though the variant spellings of this name are endless so that is kind of cool.

 

All in all it's not a name I will at present be using in any of my novels but I could see this becoming a name that winds up changing my view of it when the right character, whether book I read or one I write, comes along.