Meaning:
Its source is Sile, an Irish Gaelic name meaning "Blind."
Narrative:
Sile is the Irish Gaelic translation of the Latin-derived name Celia.
The Australian slang use of Sheila as a generic name for any woman is well known to most English speakers. However, scholars believe the personal name only accidentally coincided with the development of the slang term ''shaler'' (meaning ''sheller'') into a sound-alike word.
Why were women ''shellers?'' Setting aside any possible bawdy double-meanings, perhaps the allusion was to oyster and clam shelling, a task the patriarchal early Aussies might have considered to be ''women's work.''
