The name Felicia derives from the Latin adjective felix, meaning "happy, lucky", 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 uncertain origin. It is associated with saints, poets, astronomical objects, plant genera, fictional characters, and animals, especially cats.
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Cultural associations
The name has been in regular use and was particularly popular with Spanish speakers in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It remained among the 1,000 most popular names for American girls until 2005 but has since declined in use. The name was among the top 10 most popular names for girls in Sweden in the 1990s and remained among the top 100 names for Swedish girls until 2022.
The name is associated in American English with “Bye, Felicia”, an informal phrase and internet meme intended as a dismissive send-off, wherein a person or idea is rendered so unimportant his or her name is reduced to "Felicia." The phrase or meme is used to mock a person who causes annoyance.
People
Felicia of Sicily (fl. 1097), queen of Hungary
Felicia of Roucy (d. 1123), queen of Aragon and Navarre
Felicia Abban (1936/1937–2024), Ghanaian photographer
Felicia Nimue Ackerman (born 1947), American Brown University Philosophy professor, monthly op-ed columnist, poet and author
Felicia C. Adams (born 1960), American attorney
Felicia Adeyoyin (1938–2021), Nigerian academic
Felicia Adjei (born 1974), Ghanaian politician
Felicia Afrăsiloaie (born 1954), Romanian rower
Felicia Atkins, Australian model
Felicia Ballanger (born 1971), French cyclist
Felicia Barton (born 1982), an American semifinalist on the eighth season of American Idol
Felicia Minei Behr, American TV producer
Felicia Montealegre Bernstein (1922–1978), American actress
Felicia Bond (born 1954), American writer and illustrator, illustrator of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Felicia Brabec (born c. 1974), American politician and clinical psychologist
Felicia Brandström (born 1987), Swedish singer and one of the contestants in Swedish Idol 2006
Felicia Brown-Edwards (born 1993), American sprinter
Felicia Browne (1904–1936), British artist
Felicia F. Campbell (1931–2020), American academic
Felicia Candelario (born 1961), Dominican Republic sprinter
Felicia Chateloin (born 1949), Cuban architect, educator
Felicia Chester (born 1988), American basketball player
Felicia Chin (born 1984), Singaporean actress
Felicia Buttz Clark (1862–1931), American writer
Felicia Collins (born 1964), American vocalist and guitarist
Felicia Cornaro (died 1111), Venetian dogaressa and de facto politician
Felicia Cosman, American orthopedic surgeon
Felicia Cummings (born 1968), Trinidadian cricketer
Felicia Day (born 1979), American actress
Felicia Donceanu (1931–2022), Romanian painter, sculptor, and composer
Felicia Edem Attipoe, Ghanaian first female aircraft marshaller
Felicia Elizondo (1946–2021), American transgender activist
Felicia Eriksson (born 2001), Swedish singer
Felicia Eze (1974–2012), Nigerian footballer
Felicia Farr (born 1932), American actress, widow of Jack Lemmon
Felicia Ferrone, American industrial and furniture designer
Felicia Filip (born 1959), Romanian operatic soprano
Felícia Fuster (1921–2012), Spanish painter and poet
Felicia Garza (born 1941), Mexican-American songwriter, singer and actress
Felicia Greer (born 1970), Canadian cyclist
Felicia Gressitt Bock (1916–2011), American scholar, translator
Felicia Hano (born 1998), American artistic gymnast
Felicia Browne Hemans (1793–1835), English poet
Felicia D. Henderson (born 1961), American screenwriter
Felicia Hill-Briggs, American behavioral and social scientist
Felicia Hofner, German-American YouTuber
Felicia Hutnick, American tennis player
Felicia Hwang Yi Xin (born 1992), Indonesian model and actress
Felicia Jacobs, South African rugby player
Felicia Keesing, American ecologist
Felicia Kentridge (1930–2015), South African lawyer and activist
Felicia Knaul, British-Canadian health economist
Felicia Kornbluh (born 1966), American scholar and writer
Felicia Kwaku, Nigerian-British nurse
Felicia Laberer (born 2001), German paracanoeist
Felicia Lamport (1916–1999), American poet and satirist
Felicia Langer (1930–2018), German-Israeli attorney and activist
Felicia Lee (born 1992), American swimmer
Felícia Leirner (1904–1996), Polish-born Brazilian sculptor
Felicia Hardison Londré (born 1941), American theatrical historian
Felicia Mabuza-Suttle (born 1950), South African talk show hostess
Felicia Malipiero, Dogaressa of Venice
Felicia Mason (born 1962), African-American novelist and journalist
Felicia Mercado (born 1959), Mexican actress, singer and TV hostess
Felicia Meyer (1912–1978), American painter
Felicia Michaels (born 1963), American stand-up comedian
Felicia Middlebrooks (born 1957), American radio news broadcaster
Felicia "Fe" Montes, American artist
Felicia Moore, American politician
Felicia Nossig (1855–1939), Polish sociologist
Felicia Oh (born 1967), American martial artist
Felicia Ospitaletche (born 1953), Uruguayan sprinter
Felicia Pearson (born 1980), American actress from The Wire
Felicia Pratto (born 1961), American social psychologist
Felicia Pride, American author, educator and entrepreneur
Felicia Rabourn (born 1990), American politician
Felicia Ragland (born 1980), American basketball player
Felicia Raschiatore (born 1961), American tennis player
Felicia Rice, American book artist
Felicia Robinson, American politician and educator
Felicia Rogic (born 1993), Swedish association football player
Felicia Sanders (1921–1975), American popular music singer
Felicia Rudolphina Scatcherd (1862–1927), English journalist and spiritualist
Felicia Schroeder, American soccer player
Felicia Schröder (born 2007), Swedish soccer player
Felicia Skene (1821–1899), Scottish writer, philanthropist and prison reformer
Felicia Sonmez, American journalist
Felicia Sorel (1903–1972), American dancer, choreographer
Felicia Spencer (born 1990), Canadian mixed martial arts fighter
Felicia Stancil (born 1995), American bicycle racer
Felicia Stewart (1943–2006), American doctor
Felicia Tang (1977–2009), American actress and model
Felicia Taylor (1964–2023), American journalist
Félicia Thierret, French actress
Felicia Țilea-Moldovan (born 1967), Romanian javelin thrower
Felicia Tuczek, German composer and pianist
Felicia Walters (born 1992), Trinidadian cricketer
Felicia Weathers (born 1937), American soprano in opera and concert
Felicia Wiedermann, German field hockey player
Felicia Yap, Malaysian author
Felicia Zhang (born 1993), American pair skater
Felicia Zimmermann (born 1975), American fencer
Fictional characters
Felicia, a catgirl in the Capcom video game series Darkstalkers
Felicia Forrester, a character in the American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful
Animals
Felicia, a trained ferret at Fermilab