Google is our friend.
Ed = Cecil
Even though it isn’t true, the picture of Ed with “Cecil Adams” underneath it is worth the click. 
I’m just teasing ya, lil’ Ed. We all know Unca Cece doesn’t smile.
The smile thing is because he/they always chew Peanutbutter Gob canduies.
The Straight Dope FAQ page is also our friend.
See “Cecil Adams vs. Ed Zotti” link.
I hate to burst your bubble guys, but the Chicago Reader has stated to the Trademark Office that Cecil Adams is a fanciful name.
Your not bursting anybodys bubble, we have seen that a thousand times. Basically, it just means that The Reader owns the rights to the name Cecil Adams, and that they can assign it to someone else, if they wanna. Ed has said that Cecil is a particular person, so thats good enough for me.
All that the USPTO is telling me is that that search session expired.
Handy has posted the info a dozen times or more, so I didnt even bother to search
Handy has posted the info a dozen times or more, so I didnt even bother to click on it
Swarm! Swarm! Swarm!
Doh!
Who’re you going to believe, the Trademark Office, or the world’s smartest human being?
'Sides, I’m Cecil’s evil twin (who knows nothing), and I can assure you that he is quite real. I remember him hitting me when we were three months old, the bastard. That’s what started me on the road of evil.
I would like to point out that the proper title of the linked page is actually “Cecil Adams vs. Ed Zotti”, and in fact answers the question in the negative. I threw it together five years ago in response to a question posed on the alt.fan.cecil-adams USENET group, and later a link to the page was added to the Straight Dope FAQ page by the then webmaster, Matt Jettmore.
At the time I put together the page, I was well aware that various heretics, backsliders, ne’er-do-wells, and secret followers of Marylin vos Savant would sieze upon this as supposed evidence that in fact “Ed=Cecil”. Ed himself has often said he loves it when people say this, because it implies that he is the World’s Smartest Human. This, of course, is not something we want to encourage. Meanwhile, Cecil gently weeps…
Merc, you dumbass!