Celia comes from the Roman family name Caelius, which has long been linked to the Latin caelum and read as "heaven" or "heavenly"; it also serves as a short form of Cecilia. Shakespeare gave the name to Rosalind's loyal cousin in As You Like It, and the Cuban singer Celia Cruz made it the name of the Queen of Salsa. In the United States Celia ranked number 619 in 2000, peaked at number 594 in 2001 and stands at number 774 in 2025.