Entry № 1826 · Latin origin

Celia Celia — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ SEEL-yah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Latin
Meaning
"Heaven (Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa)"
Syllables
3
Rank · US 2025
№ 350
First recorded
Ancient (Latin)

A name that means "heaven (celia cruz, queen of salsa)".

Celia is from the Latin caelum (heaven, sky) or alternately a feminine of the Roman Caelius. Celia Cruz (1925-2003) — born Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso de la Santísima Trinidad — the Cuban-American singer crowned "the Queen of Salsa" and the most influential Afro-Latina musician of the 20th century. 23 gold albums, 3 Grammy Awards, 4 Latin Grammys, and her signature shout "¡Azúcar!" became a Spanish-language cultural rallying cry. Fled Cuba in 1960; refused to return after Fidel Castro denied her entry to her mother's funeral in 1962. First Latina featured on a US quarter (2024). *Celia (in Shakespeare's As You Like It) — Rosalind's loyal cousin*.

Subject of Celia (2015 Telemundo telenovela) and the US Mint's American Women Quarters Program.

Heaven. Queen of Salsa; ¡Azúcar! became a rallying cry; first Latina on a US quarter (2024).

The name in its native script.

Celia
Transliteration
Celia
Pronunciation
/ ˈsiːl.jə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Celia stands.

Current rank · 2025
№ 350 in the U.S.
All-time peak
№ 226 in 2020
Babies named Celia · last year
900 in the U.S.
First entered SSA top-1000
1880
Rank, 1995–2025 Lower = more popular
№25 №75 №150 №250 1995 2005 2015 2020 2025 PEAK · #226 NOW · #350

Celias before her.

Real people
Celia Cruz
Cuban-American Queen of Salsa.
1925 – 2003
In fiction
Celia
As You Like It.
c. 1599

Names connected to Celia.

The number behind Celia.

3

The Communicator

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Celia reduce to 3, The Communicator. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.