Feliciano
A masculine Italian name derived from the Latin "felix" meaning "happy" or "lucky".
Name Census estimates that about 1,739 living Americans carry the first name Feliciano. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Feliciano today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Feliciano births was 1979 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Feliciano. 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.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 197,099 Americans
Peak year
1979
40 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,498
Tracked since 1911
Census
Feliciano in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,467 people with the first name Feliciano, which placed it at #3,709 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
#3,709
National first-name rank
People counted
5.5K
5,467 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
89.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Feliciano
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Feliciano is Hispanic at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.4%) and White (2.0%). 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 Feliciano 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 Feliciano at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino89.1% · 4,872
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.4% · 404
- White2.0% · 111
- Black or African American0.8% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 20
- Two or more races0.3% · 16
Popularity
Feliciano: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Feliciano from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 305 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Feliciano 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 Feliciano during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Felicianos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Feliciano, while New York, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 413 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Feliciano
The name Feliciano has its origins in the Latin language and culture, tracing back to ancient Roman times. It is derived from the Latin word "felix," meaning "happy" or "fortunate." The name was likely given to male children with the wish for them to have a joyful and prosperous life.
In the early Christian era, the name gained popularity as a reference to St. Feliciano, a 3rd-century martyr who was executed during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire. His name is mentioned in the ancient martyrologies, which recounted the lives and deaths of early Christian martyrs.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Feliciano can be found in the 6th-century work "Historia Francorum" by Gregory of Tours, which mentions a Frankish nobleman named Feliciano who lived during the reign of King Childebert I in the 6th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals bore the name Feliciano. One of the most famous was Feliciano Felice Monti (1567-1640), an Italian composer and singer who served as the maestro di cappella at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
Another prominent figure was Feliciano Ninguarda (1370-1439), an Italian prelate and diplomat who served as the Bishop of Ivrea and later became the Archbishop of Ravenna. He played a significant role in the Council of Constance, which aimed to resolve the Western Schism in the Catholic Church.
In the realm of literature, Feliciano Buenaventura y Heredero (1828-1880) was a Spanish poet and playwright known for his works in the Romantic style. His poetry collections, such as "Rimas y Leyendas," gained widespread recognition in Spain during the 19th century.
Another notable figure was Feliciano Viera (1789-1853), a Venezuelan military leader and politician who played a crucial role in the Venezuelan War of Independence against Spanish colonial rule. He served as the President of Venezuela from 1835 to 1839.
Feliciano López de Vega (1599-1675) was a Spanish painter and etcher who worked in the Baroque style. He is best known for his religious paintings and portraits, which adorned numerous churches and palaces in Spain during the 17th century.
These are just a few examples of historically significant individuals who bore the name Feliciano, reflecting its enduring presence across various cultures, time periods, and fields of endeavor.
People
Feliciano + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Feliciano 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
Feliciano: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Feliciano?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,739 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Feliciano 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 197,099 US residents.
Is Feliciano a common name?
We classify Feliciano as "Rare". It ranks above 93.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,285 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Feliciano most popular?
The single biggest year for Feliciano was 1979, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Feliciano is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Feliciano in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,467 people with the name Feliciano, or 1.81 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,709 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 Feliciano 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 Feliciano?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Feliciano leans strongly male. 5,398 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 67 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Feliciano?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Feliciano is Hispanic at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.4%) and White (2.0%). 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 Feliciano most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Feliciano in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.1% (4,872 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 Feliciano in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Feliciano a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Feliciano in the SSA data are male. 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 Feliciano still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Feliciano 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 Feliciano 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 are called Feliciano?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.