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Name at a glance

Felicity

Felicity is a name meaning happiness, blessedness, or good fortune.

Felicity names the blessedness that the Beatitudes promise and that the Christian martyr tradition embodied; Saint Felicity of Carthage anchors the name in early Christian memory.

Browse names
OriginEnglish from Old French and Latin
GenderGirl
FeelVirtue
Pronunciationfuh-LIS-ih-tee

Is Felicity biblical?

No

Biblical status Not in Scripture

Felicity is not a biblical name or word; it comes from Latin felicitas, and the record ties it to the blessedness (Greek makarios) of the Beatitudes rather than to any occurrence of the form.

Is Felicity a Christian name?

Yes

Christian tradition Saint or church-history heritage

Felicity is established through Saint Felicity of Carthage, the early third-century martyr commemorated with Perpetua in the Catholic and Anglican traditions for seventeen centuries.

Plain answer

Felicity is not a biblical name, but it is a strongly established Christian name through Saint Felicity of Carthage and centuries of martyr-tradition liturgical use.

Confidence Moderate Last reviewed July 19, 2026 How this works

Meaning

The meaning of Felicity

Felicity comes through Old French felicite from Latin felicitas. The Latin word names happiness, blessedness, and good fortune; in Roman religion Felicitas was a personified virtue with her own temple and cult. The Greek New Testament uses makarios for the same register, the word translated as blessed throughout the Beatitudes. Early Christian writers carried felicitas into Christian Latin as a name for the deeper blessedness that belongs to those in right relationship with God.

Read next

If you love Felicity

ConstanceBoth are Latin-derived English names from the Roman Christian heritage tradition; Felicity and Constance share the early Christian saint-tradition register.PatienceBoth are Latin-derived English virtue names from the classical Christian moral tradition; Patience and Felicity sit in the same Puritan and Catholic naming registers.PerpetuaSaints Perpetua and Felicity were martyred together at Carthage in 203 AD and are named together in the Roman Canon of the Mass. The pair is one of the most historically documented martyr partnerships in early Christian tradition; Perpetua's own prison writings, preserved in the Passio Perpetuae, are one of the earliest Christian texts written by a woman.GraceBoth are virtue names from the Christian tradition; Felicity names blessedness in the Beatitudes register and Grace names the same divine favor under a Greek root.AugustineAugustine of Hippo, born in North Africa around 150 years after Felicity of Carthage, drew on Felicity's martyr-tradition heritage in his sermons; both names carry the African Latin Christian inheritance.AgnesBoth Saints Felicity of Carthage (early 3rd century) and Agnes of Rome (early 4th century) are early Christian women martyrs named in the Canon of the Mass. The names share the early-martyr saint-tradition register.

Martyr-tradition name

Why Felicity became a Christian name

Felicity carries one of the most theologically substantive early Christian heritage stories. Saint Felicity of Carthage was a slave woman martyred in the arena in 203 alongside her companion Perpetua. Their joint Passio, with its first-person account of Perpetua's prison diary, is among the earliest surviving Christian documents and the earliest by a Christian woman.

The name has carried that heritage forward through Catholic and Anglican liturgical calendars across seventeen centuries. The Beatitudes register of makarios and felicitas is the same blessedness the name claims: not Roman good fortune, but the deeper blessing that belongs to those who love God under pressure.

Sound

How to pronounce Felicity

Phonetic
fuh-LIS-ih-tee
IPA
/fəˈlɪsɪti/

4 syllables · stress: fuh-LIS-ih-tee · ends in a vowel

Forms

Variants and nicknames

Short forms and nicknames

  • Fliss
  • Lissy

Languages

Felicity in other languages

Latin
FelicitasFelicitas is the Latin source word, a personified Roman virtue before its Christian appropriation.
French
Félicité
Italian
Felicità
Spanish
Felicidad

Christian background

Christian and biblical background

Felicity is one of the older Christian feminine names through Saint Felicity of Carthage, the slave martyr typically named together with Saint Perpetua. Their joint memorial is one of the earliest in the Christian liturgical calendar, and their Passio (containing the first-person diary of Perpetua) is among the earliest surviving Christian documents. The pairing has kept the name Felicity in liturgical use across the Catholic and Anglican calendars for more than seventeen centuries. For more on the Christian saint tradition and how it shapes naming choices across denominations, see Early Christian saint names.

Bearers

Notable people named Felicity

  • historical

    Saint Felicity of CarthageEarly third-century North African slave woman, martyred at Carthage in 203 with her companion Saint Perpetua; their Passio is one of the earliest surviving Christian documents

  • modern

    Felicity KendalEnglish actress best known for the BBC series The Good Life, born 1946

  • modern

    Felicity JonesEnglish actress whose roles in The Theory of Everything and Rogue One brought broader international recognition, born 1983

Saint

Saint Felicity of Carthage

Traditions
Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox
Patron of
mothers, martyrs, widows

Saint Felicity of Carthage and Saint Perpetua are commemorated together, their joint Passio one of the earliest surviving Christian documents. Felicity gave birth to a daughter in prison shortly before her martyrdom in 203, the source of the traditional patronage for mothers.

Naming history

Naming tradition and history

Felicity has been used in English Christian naming since the medieval period, with renewed popularity through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Catholic and Anglican families. The name has held steady mid-range positions in the modern SSA dataset, sitting at #473 in 2025, the most popular of the Latin-virtue-tradition feminine names by a substantial margin.

Recent US use

Felicity in recent US use

Rank in 2025
#473
Peak rank
#345 in 2017
Recent trend
declining over the last 5 years
Years in the SSA records
82 (since 1935)

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880-2025.

Sibling fit

Sibling name suggestions

Phonetic neighbours

Names that sound similar to Felicity

  • Grace · Both are virtue names from the Latin Christian tradition; the sonic registers differ but the cluster fit is close.

For families

For families looking at Felicity

For a Christian family, Felicity names blessedness in the Beatitudes register and carries one of the strongest early Christian martyr-tradition resonances. Ranked #473 in US baby names in 2025, the name is solidly within mainstream American naming.

Common questions

What does Felicity mean?

Felicity means happiness, blessedness, or good fortune. The English name comes from Latin felicitas.

Is Felicity a biblical name?

Felicity is not the name of a biblical person, but the blessedness it names runs throughout the Beatitudes and the Psalms.

Is Felicity a Christian name?

Yes. Felicity is a classic Christian name anchored in Saint Felicity of Carthage, the early Christian martyr commemorated alongside Saint Perpetua.

How popular is the name Felicity?

Felicity ranked #473 in US baby names in 2025, solidly within mainstream American naming.

Sources

Sources for Felicity

  • The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, E. G. Withycombe (3rd edition)Supports: English etymology from Latin felicitas; meaning happiness, blessedness.
  • The Gospel of Matthew, King James Version (KJV 1769)Supports: scripture context (Matthew 5:3, Beatitudes blessedness / makarios).
  • The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, David Hugh Farmer (5th edition)Supports: Saint Felicity of Carthage; martyred with Perpetua in 203; feast day (March 7).
  • National baby names data, US Social Security Administration (2025 release)Supports: US popularity.

Last reviewed July 19, 2026. See our methodology, or report an error on the corrections page.