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Felicity (given name)
Encyclopedia
Felicity is an English feminine given name meaning "happiness". It is derived from the Latin word felicitas meaning "luck, good fortune". It is also used as a form of the Latin name Felicitas, taken from the name of the Ancient Roman goddess Felicitas
. It was also the name of Saint Felicity of Rome
, a 2nd-century saint venerated by the Roman Catholic Church
. Felicia
, a related name, is a feminine form of the name Felix, which is derived from an Ancient Roman cognomen meaning "lucky, successful."
Felicity was the 236th most popular name for girls born in England
and Wales
in 2007. The name was the 706th most popular name for girls born in the United States
in 2007, down from 619th place in 2006. The name was most popular in the United States in 1999, the year after the television show Felicity debuted. It was the 390th most popular name for girls in 1999, rising from 818th place in 1998, the year it debuted on the list of 1,000 most popular names for girls in the United States. Felicity Merriman is a red-headed Colonial doll produced by the American Girl company
. The doll, which has a tie-in book series, movies, and a number of accessories, has been in production in the United States since 1991.
Felicitas
In Roman mythology, Felicitas was the goddess or personification of good luck and success. She played an important role in Rome's state religion during the empire, and was frequently portrayed on coins...
. It was also the name of Saint Felicity of Rome
Felicitas of Rome
Felicitas of Rome is a saint numbered among the Christian martyrs. Apart from her name, the only thing known for certain about this martyr is that she was buried in the Cemetery of Maximus, on the Via Salaria on a 23 November. However, a legend presents her as the mother of the seven martyrs whose...
, a 2nd-century saint venerated by the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. Felicia
Felicia
The name Felicia derives from the Latin adjective felix, meaning "happy", though in the neuter plural form felicia it literally means "happy things" and often occurred in the phrase tempora felicia, "happy times". The sense of it as a feminine personal name appeared in post-Classical use and is of...
, a related name, is a feminine form of the name Felix, which is derived from an Ancient Roman cognomen meaning "lucky, successful."
Felicity was the 236th most popular name for girls born in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
in 2007. The name was the 706th most popular name for girls born in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 2007, down from 619th place in 2006. The name was most popular in the United States in 1999, the year after the television show Felicity debuted. It was the 390th most popular name for girls in 1999, rising from 818th place in 1998, the year it debuted on the list of 1,000 most popular names for girls in the United States. Felicity Merriman is a red-headed Colonial doll produced by the American Girl company
American Girl (company)
American Girl is an American line of 18-inch dolls released in 1986 by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray ten-year-old girls of a variety of ethnicities living in various times throughout American history. They are sold with accompanying books told from the viewpoint of the girls...
. The doll, which has a tie-in book series, movies, and a number of accessories, has been in production in the United States since 1991.
Foreign forms
- Felicyta (PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
) - Felicidad (SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
) - Felicidade (PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
) - Felìcita (ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
) - Felicitás (HungarianHungarian languageHungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
) - Felicitas (GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
) - Félicité (FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) - Zita(?) (HungarianHungarian languageHungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
) - Zyta(?) (PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
)