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Ceili
How to Pronounce Ceili
Pronounced KAY-lee /ˈkeɪ.li/Medium
Meaning: Ceili comes from the Irish word ceili (ceilidh), a lively community gathering with traditional music, dancing and storytelling. Used as a girl's name it carries that warm, festive sense, and it doubles as a spelling of Kayley/Kaylee. The unusual look often trips readers, so it is pronounced KAY-lee.Low
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Ceili is drawn from the Irish word ceili (ceilidh), a traditional gathering for music, dancing and conversation still held across Ireland and Scotland. As a given name it turns that warm communal image into a personal one, and it also serves as a heritage-flavored spelling of Kayley. It appears in United States records from the late nineteen-eighties, likely alongside the Kaylee boom, and reached a small high in the late nineteen-nineties. It was never common, given to only a couple dozen girls a year.
A girl named Ceili from that peak would be in her twenties now. The spelling nods to Irish culture while riding the Kaylee sound of its decade; it stays rare, and most families choose plainer spellings.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Ceili mean?
It comes from the Irish word ceili, a social gathering with music and dancing; it is also read as a spelling of Kayley.
How do you pronounce Ceili?
It's said KAY-lee /ˈkeɪ.li/, two syllables, stress on the first - the spelling can mislead.
Is Ceili a boy or girl name?
Ceili is used as a girl's name.
How popular is Ceili?
It has always been rare, an Irish word-name given to only a couple dozen girls a year at its peak.