What’s the correct way to pronounce Cecil’s name? Is it “seh-sill” or “see-sill” or “seh-sull” or what? I have this horrible fear of bringing up his columns in casual conversation and having someone say “IDIOT! It’s not pronounced like THAT…”
-SPOOFE
It’s pronounced “ED” with a soft “e”.
Baseball great Cecil Feilder’s was pronounced “seh-sill”. This was also true of 'sideshow Bob’s brother Cecil on ‘The Simpson’s’.
I’m pretty sure it was pronounced “see-sill” on the show, so that’s what I’d go by. Then again, it’s possible that Mike Lukas was pronouncing it wrong, so…eh, just go by your instincts on this one. I doubt if it matters that much to Ed/Cecil anyway.
Mr. Armageddon
“Just when you thought you had all the answers, I went and changed the questions!”–Roddy Piper
It is SPELLED “Cecil”, but it is pronounced:
“Throat-wobbler mangrove”.
-Dragwyr
“If God had meant for man to eat waffles,
he would have given him lips like snowshoes”
-Rev. Billy C. Wirtz
Merriam-Webster’s gives the following two pronunciations for “Cecil”:
'se-s&l, 'si-s&l
where:
e = “e” as in “bet”
& = “u” as in “nut”
i = “i” as in “hit”
This did not seem correct, since Cecil’s name would have to rhyme with either “vessel” or “Bissel” (but not “diesel” as I had always assumed). A double check in my Random House confirmed this.
The dictionary at infoplease.com finally cleared up the confusion. The above pronunciation only applies to surnames (e.g. Robert Cecil, William Cecil). When “Cecil” is used as a male given name, it is pronounced with a long e to rhyme with “diesel”.
By the way, “Cecil” is derived from the Latin word “cæcus”, which means “blind”.
-JB
I have only ever heard it pronounced “see-sill” by American tongues. Seems like it;s always “seh-sill” over here (in the UK).
It says right in the FAQ that it’s seesil.
Stupid American pronunciation 
I’m going to hypothesize (=WAG) that the American pronunciation comes from the 50s era cartoon character Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent. It seems possible to me that they modified the pronunciation in the interests of alliteration. And then a generation of Americans grew up thinking it was the right pronunciation.
Anyone out there old enough to remember how Cecil was pronounced before this show?
“Perky ‘Canada’ has Own Government, Laws”
– The Onion
Pronounced, (god), with a hard g.
The final e is silente.