Cilla

Girls' name

Former, ancient, old-fashioned, through Priscilla

Cilla has been given to 37 babies in the U.S. since 1882. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1907, with 7 recorded.

Babies named Cilla, 2009

1 in 764,000

Cilla over time, 1880–2025

Girls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Cilla: meaning, origin, and history

Former, ancient, old-fashioned, through Priscilla

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Cilla means

Cilla belongs to the name family reached through Cilla → Priscilla. Its meaning is “former, ancient, old-fashioned”.

Origin, language, and formation

Cilla is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Priscilla.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 37 girls were recorded with the name Cilla between 1882 and 2009. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1907; its best national rank was #934 in 1882.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Cilla?

Cilla had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2009, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2009: 1 in 764,000; 5 of 3,820,315 births
Among girls only: 1 in 367,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2009: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 529,609 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Cilla sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2009 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 529,609 children born in 2009 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Cilla. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Cillas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Cilla was born before 1929 — so the typical Cilla is around 96 today.

Median birth year: 1929; About 96 years old
Biggest decade: 1940s; 27.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 13.5%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 5; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1940s — 27.0% of all recorded uses (10).

Is Cilla rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1907 (7)
Years since peak: 118; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Not enough data; Too few years
Best rank ever: #934; 1882

Spellings of Cilla

Cilla is not the most common spelling — Ella is, with 18.5% against Cilla's <0.01%.

Ella18.5%351,313
Jill11.0%208,071
Carla7.9%150,390
Wilma7.4%140,101
Viola7.0%132,993
Mila4.5%84,489
Bella4.4%83,721
Hilda4.3%81,022

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Cilla around the world

Where Cilla ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

South Australia
1969–2009
#818
in 2009

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Cilla by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #934; 1882
Peak year: 1907; 7 that year
First recorded: 1882
Last recorded: 2009
All-time count: 37
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Cilla

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Cilia Amilla Scylla Raella Ryella Amella Myella Maella Gaella Lolla Diella Wylla Kylla Uriella Sella Nilla Miella Tella Nabella Azella Nylla Ulla Kyella Rolla

Sibling names for Cilla

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Golda Lauretta Era Leatha Leone Mayme Artie Alpha

For a brother

Gustave Waldo Orrin Winfield Dorsey Isadore Aloysius Hyman

Explore around Cilla

Top names of 1907, Cilla's peak year The 1900s in full Other names that peaked in 1882 Girls' names starting with C