Ceili
A feminine name of Irish origin meaning "celebration" or "gathering".
Name Census estimates that about 282 living Americans carry the first name Ceili. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ceili today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ceili births was 1997 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ceili. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ceili with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
282
~ 1 in 1,215,441 Americans
Peak year
1997
23 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2019 SSA rank
#14,163
Tracked since 1989
Census
Ceili in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 337 people with the first name Ceili, which placed it at #27,242 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#27,242
National first-name rank
People counted
337
337 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ceili
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ceili is White at 84.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.4%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ceili described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ceili at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.3% · 284
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 25
- Two or more races5.0% · 17
- Black or African American1.2% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 3
Popularity
Ceili: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ceili from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 140 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ceili by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ceili during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ceili
The name Ceili is derived from the Irish language and has its origins in the Gaelic culture of Ireland. It is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages, between the 5th and 15th centuries. The name is thought to be a diminutive form of the Irish name Celia, which itself is derived from the Latinized form of the Greek name Caelia.
In ancient Irish mythology, Ceili was the name of a Celtic goddess associated with fertility and motherhood. She was often depicted as a mother figure, and her name was invoked in rituals and ceremonies related to childbirth and agriculture. The name may have been used as a way to honor this goddess and seek her blessings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ceili can be found in the 12th century Annals of Inisfallen, an Irish chronicle that documented events in Ireland from the 5th to the 13th century. The name appears in an entry from the year 1169, referring to a woman named Ceili Ní Chonchobhair.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ceili. One example is Ceili Denvir (c. 1506-1576), an Irish noblewoman and chieftain's wife who played a significant role in the O'Neill dynasty's resistance against English rule in Ulster during the 16th century.
Another notable figure was Ceili Ó Ceallaigh (1566-1641), an Irish Franciscan friar and scholar who taught philosophy and theology in various parts of Europe. He was known for his contributions to the field of Irish-language literature and his efforts to preserve Irish culture during a period of English colonization.
In the 19th century, Ceili Mac Donnell (1812-1892) was a prominent Irish nationalist and writer who advocated for Irish independence and the preservation of the Irish language. She published several works in Irish and played an influential role in the Gaelic Revival movement.
One of the more recent historical figures with the name Ceili was Ceili Brugha (1892-1919), an Irish revolutionary and politician who fought in the Easter Rising of 1916 and later served as the first Minister for Defense in the Irish Republic.
Ceili Griffith (1933-2007) was an American folk singer and songwriter who helped popularize Irish and Scottish folk music in the United States during the mid-20th century. She was known for her renditions of traditional ballads and her efforts to preserve and promote Celtic cultural heritage.
People
Ceili + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ceili as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ceili: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ceili?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 282 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ceili going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,215,441 US residents.
Is Ceili a common name?
We classify Ceili as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 288 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ceili most popular?
The single biggest year for Ceili was 1997, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ceili is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ceili in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 337 people with the name Ceili, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,242 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ceili in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ceili?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ceili appears almost entirely female. Of the 325 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ceili?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ceili is White at 84.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.4%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ceili most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ceili in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.3% (284 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ceili in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ceili a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ceili in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ceili still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ceili in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ceili can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Ceili?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.