Etymograph

English

Sheila

Sheila comes from Irish Síle ‘a female given name of Irish origin,…’, and goes back to Latin Caecilia.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CECaecilia
  2. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400Cecile
  3. Middle Irishc. 900–1200Síle
  4. Irishc. 1200–presentsame form‘a female given name of Irish origin, Anglicized as Sheila’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1874Sheila

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CECaecilia
  2. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400Cecile
  3. Middle Irishc. 900–1200Síle
  4. Irishc. 1200–presentsame form‘a female given name of Irish origin, Anglicized as Sheila’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1874Sheila

Earliest quotation: 1874, William Black, A Princess of Thule: “Were English girls not good enough for him that…”

The story

Anglicized spelling of Irish Síle, equivalent to Cecilia.

Every English word from Latin Caecilia

Another origin of Sheila

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱey-‘to lie down, settle’uncertain
  2. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEशीśī‘to lie down, rest’uncertain
  3. Sanskrit, derivedc. 1500–500 BCEशीलśīla‘character, good conduct’
  4. Hindic. 1500–presentशीलाśīlā
  5. EnglishtodaySheila

Today it means

name A female given name from Irish, popular in the UK from the 1920s to the 1950s; variant forms Shelagh, Sheelagh, Sheilagh, Sheela, Sile.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin Caecilia / Sheila

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