Cecilia

Cecilia comes from the Roman Caecilius clan, possibly rooted in caecus, "blind." Saint Cecilia, the second-century martyr said to have sung hymns as she died, became the patron saint of music, and her name has been sung back through centuries of choral settings, from Purcell to Simon and Garfunkel. Cecilia has hovered in the U.S. top 300 for most of the twentieth century and climbed into the top 150 by the 2020s as parents rediscovered its quiet grandeur. Four syllables unfurl like a held note, seh-SEEL-ee-ah. It reads as graceful, a little devotional, with nicknames CeCe and Cilla offering softer landings.