Date
Meaning & History
This name is best known for being the name of Cedella Booker (1926-2008), the mother of the Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley (1945-1981). Her full name at birth was Sidilla Editha Malcolm. Given how similar the name Sidilla is to her later name Cedella, it is possible that Cedella is a variant spelling or form of Sidilla. Sidilla itself may then possibly be a corrupted form of Sibylla (see SIBYL). Alternatively, the name Sidilla could be derived from the Spanish word cedilla meaning "small letter Z". It was then probably a misspelling, which her parents later changed to the slightly more correct spelling Cedella.Cedella's son Bob later went on to name his first biological daughter (born in 1967) after her, who would go on to become a musician in her own right, most notably as part of the reggae band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers.