Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Cecil?
Births per year, rank history and how many Cecils are alive today.
Cecil (male), once a common boys' name, is now rarely given to new babies in England and Wales: just 4 in 2025, ranked 4275th. The name peaked in 1904, when around 4,000 babies were given the name, the 34th most popular that year. It has declined since 1904; the 2025 figure is roughly 1% of its peak. At least 68,000 babies have been named Cecil in England and Wales since 1904. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
The Cecil you are most likely to meet is around 75 years old. Half of all Cecils born in England and Wales are between 57 and 82, and there are at least 8,500 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 2.8% chance that at least one of them will be called Cecil.
How many babies are named Cecil each year?
Where does Cecil rank among boys' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Cecil most popular?
Cecil peaked in 1904, when around 4,000 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Cecil?
At least 8,500 people named Cecil born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Cecil?
Most living Cecils are between 57 and 82; the most common age is about 75.
Is Cecil becoming more or less popular?
Well past its peak: today's figures are a fraction of the 1904 peak, though numbers have levelled off in recent years.