How Many People Are Named Cecil?
An estimated 39,309 people in the United States have the first name Cecil. It is predominantly male (93.3%). The average bearer is 65 years old, and Cecil peaked in popularity in 1920 with 2,672 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Cecil as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Cecil paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Cecil has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
39,309
About 1 in 8,719 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
93.3% confidence
Average Age
65
years old
Peak Year
1920
2,672 births
Total Registered
114,554
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Cecil
Cecil is predominantly male (93.3%), though 7,687 female births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Cecil as a male name
Ranked #1,479 in 2024
122 male births in 2024
Peak: 1920 (2,459 births)
Cecil as a female name
Ranked #15,771 in 2022
5 female births in 2022
Peak: 1916 (241 births)
Cecil: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Cecil span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 24,003 babies were registered. Cecil has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Cecil by Decade
How has Cecil tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,000 | 705 | 295 | |
| 1890s | 2,769 | 1,808 | 961 | |
| 1900s | 4,792 | 3,610 | 1,182 | |
| 1910s | 17,799 | 15,987 | 1,812 | |
| 1920s | 24,003 | 22,528 | 1,475 | |
| 1930s | 17,253 | 16,482 | 771 | |
| 1940s | 15,392 | 14,837 | 555 | |
| 1950s | 12,288 | 12,004 | 284 | |
| 1960s | 7,560 | 7,429 | 131 | |
| 1970s | 4,255 | 4,181 | 74 | |
| 1980s | 3,022 | 2,930 | 92 | |
| 1990s | 1,726 | 1,700 | 26 | |
| 2000s | 1,113 | 1,094 | 19 | |
| 2010s | 1,015 | 1,010 | 5 | |
| 2020s | 567 | 562 | 5 | |
Cecil by State
Birth registrations for Cecil span all 49 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, Alabama, Kentucky. The lowest are in Hawaii, Alaska, Delaware. On average, about 2,034 Cecils were registered per state.
Cecil + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Cecil as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Cecil
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
Cecil: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cecil?
We estimate approximately 39,309 people named Cecil are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 8,719 Americans share this first name.
Is Cecil a common name?
Cecil is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 114,554 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Cecil most popular?
Cecil reached peak popularity in 1920, when 2,672 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Cecil is approximately 65 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Cecil a male name?
Cecil is predominantly male. 93.3% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Cecil Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Cecil Smith, Cecil Johnson, Cecil Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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