Felicia
A feminine Latin name meaning "happy" or "fortunate".
Name Census estimates that about 79,207 living Americans carry the first name Felicia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Felicia today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Felicia births was 1986 (3,095 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Felicia. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Felicia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Felicia is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 279 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1970s, recent registration numbers for Felicia have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
79K
~ 1 in 4,327 Americans
Peak year
1986
3,095 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1993 SSA rank
#4,489
Tracked since 1880
Census
Felicia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 78,101 people with the first name Felicia, which placed it at #677 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#677
National first-name rank
People counted
78K
78,101 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
25.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Felicia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Felicia is Black at 41.8%. The next largest groups are White (35.6%) and Hispanic (15.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Felicia described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Felicia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.8% · 32,683
- White35.6% · 27,778
- Hispanic or Latino15.4% · 12,026
- Two or more races3.8% · 2,988
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 1,703
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 923
Gender
Gender distribution for Felicia
Out of the 91,351 babies given the name Felicia since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Felicia as a male name
- Ranked #9,191 in 1993
- 5 male births in 1993
- Peak: 1989 (18 births)
Felicia as a female name
- Ranked #4,489 in 2024
- 31 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1986 (3,084 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Felicia appears almost entirely female. Of the 78,101 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Felicia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Felicia from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 22,433 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Felicia by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Felicia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Felicias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Felicia, while North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,705 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Felicia
The name Felicia has its origins in the Latin language and culture, with roots dating back to ancient Roman times. It is derived from the Latin word "felix," meaning "happy" or "fortunate." The name gained popularity during the Roman era as a feminine form of the masculine name Felix.
In its early days, Felicia was a name bestowed upon girls born into wealthy Roman families, symbolizing the parents' hopes for their daughter to lead a blessed and joyous life. As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, the name Felicia became associated with virtues of joy and contentment, reflecting the religious values of the time.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Felicia can be found in the writings of the Roman poet Martial, who lived during the 1st century AD. In his poems, he celebrated the beauty and grace of a woman named Felicia, contributing to the name's positive connotations.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Felicia. One prominent example is Felicia of Carthage (c. 480-520 AD), a Christian saint and martyr who was executed during the Vandal persecution of Christians in North Africa. Her unwavering faith and sacrifice earned her a place in religious texts and hagiographies.
Another Felicia of historical significance was Felicia Doncelis (1115-1190), a French noblewoman and courtier who served as the governess to the children of King Henry II of England. Her influence and wisdom in shaping the education of future monarchs left a lasting legacy.
In the realm of literature, Felicia Hemans (1793-1835) was a renowned British poet and writer whose works, such as "The Homes of England" and "The Treasures of the Deep," were widely acclaimed during the Romantic era. Her poetic contributions earned her recognition as one of the most popular poets of her time.
The arts were graced by the presence of Felicia Montealegre Godefroy (1723-1805), a Cuban poet and playwright. Her literary works, including the play "La Cubanita," celebrated the cultural identity of her homeland and helped establish her as a pioneering figure in Cuban literature.
Felicia Langer (1930-2022) was a prominent German-Israeli human rights lawyer and activist. She dedicated her life to advocating for the rights of women and minorities, earning numerous accolades, including the prestigious Heinz Galinski Award for her humanitarian efforts.
These are just a few examples of the many remarkable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Felicia, each contributing to its enduring legacy and associations with joy, fortune, and accomplishment.
People
Felicia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Felicia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Felicia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Felicia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 79,207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Felicia going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 4,327 US residents.
Is Felicia a common name?
We classify Felicia as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 91,351 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Felicia most popular?
The single biggest year for Felicia was 1986, when 3,095 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Felicia is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Felicia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 78,101 people with the name Felicia, or 25.86 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #677 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Felicia in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Felicia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Felicia appears almost entirely female. Of the 78,101 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Felicia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Felicia is Black at 41.8%. The next largest groups are White (35.6%) and Hispanic (15.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Felicia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Felicia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.8% (32,683 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Felicia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Felicia a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Felicia in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Felicia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Felicia in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Felicia can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Felicia?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Felicia, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.