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I sort of like it, but I'm not quite there either. It looks nice, but I can imagine it looking a bit precious on a real boy. This may be because I know a girl called Cecil - it's cute on her.

SEH-sil in British English, SEE-sil in American as I understand it. And of the two I hugely prefer SEH-sil, but not enough to use it although it appears on both sides of my family. I feel much happier with Cecily.

While I love Cecily for a girl, I can't say I like Cecil on a boy.

I pronounce it SEE-sil, personally. I like it, but I want to like it more.

Cecil is wonderful. I slightly prefer Cyril because there are less pronunciation problems and it has the great nn Cy. But Cecil isn't far behind.

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I pronounce it "SEH-sil," even though I'm in the U.S. The British pronunciation is more common in my ear than the U.S. "SEE-sil" because I was raised with a healthy dose of PBS / BBC. I find the U.S. pronunciation harsh anyway.

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My parents have a good friend named Cecil ("SEH-sil"). His granddaughter Cecily was named after him. And that's the best reason I can think of for naming a ds Cecil: some day he will beget a dd or dgd named Cecily. It's inevitable. And the world needs more Cecilys badly. :-)

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Cecil ("SEH-sil") and his brother Basil ("BAZ-il") would be fun.

This message was edited 10/11/2009, 9:50 AM

I've always heard it as SEH-sil. I don't think it sounds nice, and it's got Cecil Cook behind it, who organized the systematic elimination of native Australians in the beginning of the last century.

I think it's very strong and a nice name, but I can't really see it on a child. I pronounce it SEH-sil. I have a friend whose name is Richard Cecil, which I think is cool.

Love Cecil! I pronounce it SEH-sil, as per the snotty waiter in ReBoot who liked to remind character that pronounced his name wrong that "It's SEH-sil." Plus, I think the SEH-sil pronunciation is a lot less grating and more modern than SEE-sil.

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I don't know that I have any opinions that could necessarily sway you - I just think it's a great name. :D

I've heard it both ways - SEE-sil seems to be the most common, but I prefer SEH-sil.

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I want to like it too, but it is just so very delicate-sounding and foppish. It's strictly a GP for me, and one I would almost certainly never use. I'd be more likely to use Cyril before Cecil I think.

Reminds me of Cecil B. DeMille