Name of the Week

One of the most upbeat and lively word-names around.

 

Origin:

Felicity is an English vocabulary word which is defined as 'intense happiness'* or 'bliss'. The word dates from Middle English, which came into use via the Old French felicite "happiness", and ultimately the Latin felicitas "happiness, fruitfulness," a variant of felix "happy, fortunate, fruitful, fertile".  In Roman mythology Felicitas was a goddess — the personification of happiness and good fortune— related closely to Eutychia, the Greek goddess of good fortune. She was often placed on Roman coins, depicted with a caduceus (a staff said to signify true virtue) and a cornucopia (which symbolised abundance and prosperity), and associated with Victoria "victory," Concordia "unity", Pietas "piety" and Fortuna "fortune."  The name was used again for two Roman Christian martyrs: St Felicitas (or Felicity) of Rome is an early 2nd century martyr, said to have been a charitable and pious woman and mother of the seven martyred brothers. Sts Perpetua and Felicitas (Felicity) are 3rd century Christian martyrs of Carthage who were put to death in the arena for refusing to renounce their faith. Unusually, a contemporary account of their trials survives. Most scholars believe it to be authentic, but several note the symbolic meaning of their two names combined — perpetual happiness: the ultimate reward for every martyr.

Usage:

Back in the Middle Ages, Felicity was a word but not a name (except in connection with the saints) — in fact, it didn't establish itself as a first name until the 16th century. The masculine Felix was also little used in the Middle Ages, despite its being borne by several saints. Felix's feminine counterpart, Felicia, however, was fairly prevalent at the time.  Felicia was the Latin form of the name, while the French and English vernacular forms were Felice, Felise, Felis or Phelis. The form Felice can also be found in medieval Italy where it as used as both a form of Felix and Felicia.  Redmonds* estimates it to have been among the top 30 most popular names in England from 1377—81, but as the centuries move on to the 16th century, it becomes progressively more difficult to distinguish the forms of Felice from the increasingly popular Phyllis (sometimes recorded as Philicia).  Felicity itself first became used in the 16th century at a time when "virtue" word names were in use. The name did not, however, see particularly high usage. Virtue names only made up a small percentage of the names used in the 16th and 17th century* and, of these, Charity, Grace, Mercy, Clemence, Faith, Fortune, Honour, Prudence and Patience were much more prevalent.  Although Felicity is a distinct name from Felicia, it would seem that some people recognised them as variants of one another. The poet Felicia Hemans (1793—1835), for example, was most likely named after her mother, Felicity Wagner, daughter of the Austrian and Tuscan consul to Liverpool. Felicity was still in low usage in the early 19th century, but gradually began to pick up usage, and finally became established in the early 20th century.  On the 1841 UK census 16 females were named Felicity; 17 named Felicite; and 7 named Felicita. Felicia was in much higher usage with a figure 199. By 1881 the figures had changed very little. 18 females are listed named Felicity on the census; 25 named Felicite; 3 named Felicita. Felicia, however, had risen to a figure of 386.  The Birth Index for England and Wales shows that Felicity's usage was patchy throughout the 19th century. 5 were regitered in the 1840s; 6 in the 1850s; 1 in the 1860s; 1 in the 1870s; 3 in the 1880s; and 5 in the 1890s. The turn-of-the-20th century begins to show a change, however. From 1901 to 1910 Felicity had at least one registration every year (3 births on average). A minor leap occured in 1913 when Felicity went from 3 registrations in 1912 to 21 registrations in 1913. The name continued to increase in usage, reaching its peak in the late 1940s, as we can see by looking at Felicity's birth count for the last year in each decade: 1929: 30 births 1939: 88 births 1949: 212 births 1959: 124 births 1969: 81 births  Though she has never been in the Top 100 in England, Wales or Scotland, the name has remained in consistent usage and is slowly on the rise again. In 1996 in England and Wales Felicity ranked #295 with 126 births. In 2002 it ranked #243 (165 births), and was #231 (215) in 2008. It broke into the Top 200 at #195 in 2010, and as of 2011, Felicity ranked #178 with a count of 289. In Scotland the name ranked #401 in 2011 with a birth count of 8.

Famous Bearers:

History: * St Felicity of Rome, 1st centuy martyr. * St Felicity, martyred alongside St Perpetua. * Dame Felicitas Corrigan, OSB (1908—2003), English Benedictine nun, author and humanitarian. * Princess Felicitas Cecilie Alexandrine Helene Dorothea of Prussia (1934—2009), German princess and great-granddaughter of Wilhelm II. * Air Commodore Dame Felicity Peake, DBE (1913—2002), founding director of the UK's Women's Royal Air Force. Contemporary: * Dame Felicity Palmer, DBE (b.1944), British mezzo-soprano.  * Felicity Kendall (b.1946), British actress. * Dame Felicity Lott, DBE (b.1947), British soprano. * Felicity Huffman (b.1962), American actress. * Felicity Urquhart (b.1976), Australian country singer. * Felicity Jones (b.1983), British actress. Literature, Other Media: * Felicity King, a character in L. M. Montgomery's novel The Golden Road (1913) which later formed the basis of the 90s TV series Road to Avonlea.  * Felicity (1998—2002), a US television series staring Keri Russell as Felicity Porter.  * Felicity "Flick" Scully, a long-running character on Australian television soap Neighbours, played by Holly Valance.

Variants:

Felice (Medieval), Felicia, Felicitas (Latin), Félicité (French), Felicidad (Spanish), Felicita (Italian) Felizitas (German)

Pronunciation:

fe-LIS-it-ee  [key]

Possible  Diminutives:

Effie, Fee, Flick, Fliss, Letty, Liccy, Lily, Liss, Lissa, Lissy , Tilly

Sibling Names:

Clementine     Eloise     Annabel     Jessamine     Lilia     Estelle  Tristan     Nicholas     Dominic     Gabriel     Sebastian     Nathaniel

Name Lists:

Vintage Names    Saintly & Stylish    Names from Enid Blyton

 

If you like Felicity you may also like:   Verity, Elodie, Cecily, Hermione, Theresa, Imogen, Penelope, Fleur, Violet, Leticia

 

Thanks to Saranel for requesting Felicity as this week's NotW.