Sicily

Sicily
Recorded in a very wide range of spellings including Cecely, Cysely, Sisley, Sicily, and shortforms Cess, Cesse, Siss, Sise, Syce, Sisse and Size, this is an English surname. It is a nickname form of the popular medieval female name Cecilia, itself from the Roman (Latin) word 'caecus' meaning blind. The name was borne by a second century Roman virgin and martyr, popularly regarded as the patroness of music. Her name was introduced into the British Isles by the Norman-French after the Invasion of 1066, and is first recorded in the year 1200 when Henricus filius Cecilie appears in the Pipe Rolls of Derbyshire. This was not however a surname or was even hereditary, the first surname from this source is recorded in the latter half of the 13th century as shown below. Nicknames which developed into surnames formed one of the largest groups in the surname listings. In this case we have the added curiosity in that this name is one of the small group of metronymics, that is to say a name from the mother perhaps because she was the heiress, rather than the patronymic from the father. Early recording examples include Audrey Sys, a witness at St Margarets Westminster on January 19th 1541, and Elizabeth Size, who was christened at St Botolphs Bishopgate, on May 20th 1660, both in the diocese of Greater London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry Cecili. This was dated 1279, in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Surnames reference. 2013.

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  • Sicily — • The largest island in the Mediterranean Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Sicily     Sicily     † …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • SICILY — SICILY, largest island in the Mediterranean, S.W. of the Italian peninsula. History There were probably Jews living in Sicily in the period of the Second Temple; the great Jewish rhetorician caecilius of calacte moved from Sicily to Rome about 50 …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Sicily — island off the southern tip of Italy, from L. Sicilia, from Gk. Sikelia, from Sikeloi (pl.) Sicilians, from the name of an ancient people on the Tiber, whence part of them emigrated to the island that was named for them …   Etymology dictionary

  • Sicily — [sis′ə lē] 1. island of Italy, off its S tip 2. region of Italy, comprising this island & small nearby islands: 9,926 sq mi (25,708 sq km); pop. 4,966,000; cap. Palermo …   English World dictionary

  • Sicily — Infobox Region of Italy name = Sicily fullname = it. Regione Autonoma Siciliana isocode = capital = Palermo status = Autonomous region governor = Raffaele Lombardo (MpA) zone = South Italy province = Agrigento Caltanissetta Catania Enna Messina… …   Wikipedia

  • Sicily — Sicilian /si sil yeuhn, sil ee euhn/, adj., n. /sis euh lee/, n. an island in the Mediterranean, constituting a region of Italy, and separated from the SW tip of the mainland by the Strait of Messina: largest island in the Mediterranean.… …   Universalium

  • Sicily —    Largest island in the Mediterranean (q.v.), separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina (q.v.). While Sicily linked Italy to Africa (qq.v.), it also divided the Mediterranean (q.v.) into eastern and western parts. Conquered by …   Historical dictionary of Byzantium

  • Sicily — Sicile Sicile Information …   Wikipédia en Français

  • SICILY —    (3,285), the largest island in the Mediterranean, lying off the SW. extremity of Italy, to which it belongs, and from which it is separated by the narrow strait of Messina, 2 m. broad; the three extremities of its triangular configuration form …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Sicily —    The earliest definitive reference to Gypsies on the island dates from 1485 and refers to a horse dealer named Michele Petta. The first Gypsies had probably arrived some years earlier and from the Balkans by sea rather than from the mainland of …   Historical dictionary of the Gypsies

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