Entry № 0492 · 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.

6

The Nurturer

Celia reduces to six — the number of Queen of Salsa.

Why families chose this name.

"Heaven of salsa. Five letters. Celia."
Maria · Mother of one · Havana