Cissa as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Cissa

What is the meaning of the name Cissa ?

The baby name Cissa is a girl name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced SIS-uh.

Cissa is Greek, Latin in Origin.

Cissa is best explained from the Greek bird name kíssa, written κίσσα, for a jay or magpie. Latin adopted the form as cissa, and modern zoological Latin preserves it in the genus name for green magpies. The word is probably imitative, shaped around the bird’s call rather than a transparent compound, so its literal sense is simply magpie or jay. As a personal name, it is better treated as a rare adoption from this classical vocabulary than as a securely inherited Roman given name.

Historical Cissa in early England is a separate masculine Old English name, borne by figures in Sussex traditions and by a Northumbrian saint mentioned by Bede; its etymology is uncertain. The modern feminine use is sparse, with Cisa as an occasional simplified spelling and possible confusion with Cissy, a diminutive of Cecilia, Frances, or Francisca.