Celeste

What Celeste means

Means “heavenly”

Borrowed from French Céleste, ultimately from Latin caelestis (“heavenly”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Celeste” (revision 92412566), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Celeste?

US: Rising: up from #500 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #775 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 1,662 girls got the name (#188 that year). First in the US records in 1881.

How common

• About 1 in 967 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,638 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,982 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in RI (3.67 per 1,000 girls), NM (3.21 per 1,000 girls), DE (2.66 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Celeste is #188 in the US and #423 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Celeste were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Seleste24 US
• Celest8 US
• Celestte6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Celeste

Girls

• Serena#325“serene”^*
• Celine#207“heaven”^*
• Alma#449“nourishing, kind”^*
• Madeline#81Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #81 vs #304 in 2025
• Carolina#405Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #405 vs #1,512 in 2025
• Celia#774possibly “heaven”^*

For a brother

• Nicolas#177Variant of Nicholas, meaning “victory + people”^*
• Joan#984“God is gracious”^*
• Augustine#545Same root as Austin, meaning “majestic”^*
• Francis#420“Frankish (man); a Frank”^*
• Benedict#814“blessed, well spoken of”^*
• Louis#249“loud; famous + battle”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under French, Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Celeste’s. Rank is US 2025.