Head to head · Girls' names
Cassidy vs Cecelia
#541 vs #529 in 2025
Cecelia is a whisker ahead (#529 vs #541 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Cecelia is holding its place on the charts, Cassidy is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Cecelia leads 4 measures of 6; Cassidy leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Cassidy —, Cecelia #210 — Cecelia higher
- 1890s: Cassidy —, Cecelia #199 — Cecelia higher
- 1900s: Cassidy —, Cecelia #182 — Cecelia higher
- 1910s: Cassidy —, Cecelia #197 — Cecelia higher
- 1920s: Cassidy —, Cecelia #246 — Cecelia higher
- 1930s: Cassidy —, Cecelia #293 — Cecelia higher
- 1940s: Cassidy —, Cecelia #258 — Cecelia higher
- 1950s: Cassidy —, Cecelia #325 — Cecelia higher
- 1960s: Cassidy #7471, Cecelia #513 — Cecelia higher
- 1970s: Cassidy #2250, Cecelia #827 — Cecelia higher
- 1980s: Cassidy #638, Cecelia #885 — Cassidy higher
- 1990s: Cassidy #218, Cecelia #835 — Cassidy higher
- 2000s: Cassidy #173, Cecelia #733 — Cassidy higher
- 2010s: Cassidy #291, Cecelia #586 — Cassidy higher
- 2020s: Cassidy #480, Cecelia #541 — Cassidy higher
Cecelia stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Cassidy has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Cassidy | Cecelia |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #210 |
| 1890s | — | #199 |
| 1900s | — | #182 |
| 1910s | — | #197 |
| 1920s | — | #246 |
| 1930s | — | #293 |
| 1940s | — | #258 |
| 1950s | — | #325 |
| 1960s | #7471 | #513 |
| 1970s | #2250 | #827 |
| 1980s | #638 | #885 |
| 1990s | #218 | #835 |
| 2000s | #173 | #733 |
| 2010s | #291 | #586 |
| 2020s | #480 | #541 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Cassidy
descendant of Caiside; from Irish cas, 'curly-haired'
The surname Ó Caiside means 'descendant of Caiside', and the personal name Caiside is built on the Irish word cas, 'curly' — so the sense reaching back through it is 'curly-haired one'.
Caiside → Ó Caiside → Cassidy
How it traveled
The Cassidys were an Irish family of Fermanagh, hereditary physicians to the Maguire lords there, and their surname — Ó Caiside — traveled with Irish emigration into English-speaking countries. In America the name became a fixture of Western storytelling: the outlaw Robert LeRoy Parker took Butch Cassidy as his alias, and the late-1960s film about him and the Sundance Kid put the word in front of an enormous audience.
Cecelia
from the Roman family name Caecilius, linked to Latin caecus, "blind"
The Latin path is well documented. Worth knowing that Caecilius was a large Roman clan name, so the "blind" sense belonged to an ancestor of the family, not to anyone who has carried the name since.
Caecilius → Caecilia → Cecilia → Cecily → Cecelia
How it traveled
The name begins as Caecilia, the feminine form of Caecilius, one of the great family names of the Roman Republic. Its later life belongs almost entirely to Saint Cecilia, a Roman martyr venerated from the early centuries of the church and eventually made patron saint of music — an association that gave the name churches, feast-day odes and Chaucer's Second Nun's Tale.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Cassidy
KASS-ih-dee
Stress on the first syllable, the middle one very light. English speakers read it correctly on sight; the Irish original, Ó Caiside, sounds close to oh-KASH-ih-djeh.
- Cass — The most common short form, used for Cassidy and for Cassandra alike; also given on its own.
- Cassie — Informal and long-established; stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Cassidy — Frequently used in full — three syllables is short enough that many bearers never shorten it at all.
Cecelia
suh-SEEL-yuh
Also said suh-SEE-lee-uh, with four syllables. Both are standard and the same speaker will often use each depending on how quickly they are talking.
- Cece — The most common informal short form; also spelled CeCe and used on its own as a given name.
- Celia — A long-established shortening that has been a full given name in its own right since the Renaissance.
- Cissy — Also spelled Sissy; the traditional English short form, most familiar among older generations.
- Cilla — Used in Britain and Scandinavia, occasionally in the US.
- Also Lia.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Cassidy if you want…
- a name fewer children share#541 in 2025 — cassidy will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name past its most crowded yearsCassidy is stepping back from its peak
- a newer arrivalCassidy entered the US charts in 1969
- a name that feels very nowCassidy is stepping back from its peak
Choose Cecelia if you want…
- a name most people already know#529 in 2025, 569 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 43 places on the charts in five years
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Cece, Celia and Cissy
- a long American recordCecelia was already in use when US records began in 1880
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Cassidy
Strengths
- One standard spelling that almost everyone reads and writes correctly on the first try, backed by a surname long familiar in English.
- Ready-made short forms — Cass and Cassie — both of which already work as names on their own.
- A documented Irish family line behind it, which matters to parents who want an ancestral rather than an invented name.
To consider
- The best-known bearer of the name in American memory is an outlaw, and Butch Cassidy is still the first association for many people. It is affectionate rather than damaging, but it will come up.
- Surname-names ending in -y for girls — Cassidy among them — carry a fairly clear sense of when they were fashionable, so the name reads as belonging to a particular stretch of decades rather than as timeless.
- Because Cass and Cassie are shared with Cassandra, expect people to guess wrong about the full name, and expect Cassidy to be misheard as Cassandra now and then.
Cecelia
Strengths
- Unbroken use from Roman antiquity through the medieval church to the present day — one of the longest documented records any English name has.
- Works in Italian, Spanish, Polish, German and Swedish with only a small change of spelling or accent.
- Several well-worn short forms already exist — Cece, Celia, Cissy — so no nickname has to be invented.
To consider
- Cecilia is the more common spelling worldwide, so this version will be quietly corrected on forms, emails and school lists for life. Most people who carry it learn to spell it out once and move on.
- Two pronunciations circulate, three syllables and four, and both are correct — which means a Cecelia will hear it said either way and may end up choosing one herself.
- The old short form Sissy has other meanings in American English, which is worth knowing even though Cece has largely taken its place.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Cassidy
65%chance Cassidy feels dated by 2040
Cassidy is coming down from a big peak (#99 in 1999). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Cecelia
40%chance Cecelia feels dated by 2040
Cecelia sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Cassidy and Cecelia in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Cassidy and Cecelia?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Western names with dust on their boots
- Names that belong entirely to the 1990s
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- all guides
Where Cassidy and Cecelia each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Cassidy or Cecelia — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Cassidy or Cecelia?
- Cecelia, in 2025: Cecelia ranked #529 with 569 babies; Cassidy ranked #541 with 558 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Cassidy or Cecelia?
- Cecelia. Over the last five years Cassidy moved down 130 places; Cecelia moved up 43 places.
- Which is the older name, Cassidy or Cecelia?
- Cassidy entered the US charts in 1969; Cecelia was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Cecelia is the older name.
- How many people are named Cassidy and Cecelia?
- About 60,000 people named Cassidy are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 33,500 people named Cecelia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Cassidys or Cecelias in the classroom?
- Cassidy will almost certainly be the only one in school. Cecelia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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