Head to head · Girls' names
Felicity vs Winnie
#473 vs #475 in 2025
Felicity is a whisker ahead (#473 vs #475 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Felicity is stepping back from its peak, Winnie is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Winnie has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Felicity and Winnie each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Felicity —, Winnie #194 — Winnie higher
- 1890s: Felicity —, Winnie #182 — Winnie higher
- 1900s: Felicity —, Winnie #212 — Winnie higher
- 1910s: Felicity —, Winnie #266 — Winnie higher
- 1920s: Felicity —, Winnie #322 — Winnie higher
- 1930s: Felicity #3559, Winnie #379 — Winnie higher
- 1940s: Felicity #4310, Winnie #552 — Winnie higher
- 1950s: Felicity #4211, Winnie #975 — Winnie higher
- 1960s: Felicity #3429, Winnie #1552 — Winnie higher
- 1970s: Felicity #2244, Winnie #2066 — Winnie higher
- 1980s: Felicity #2210, Winnie #2462 — Felicity higher
- 1990s: Felicity #1390, Winnie #2260 — Felicity higher
- 2000s: Felicity #633, Winnie #2403 — Felicity higher
- 2010s: Felicity #493, Winnie #1546 — Felicity higher
- 2020s: Felicity #448, Winnie #614 — Felicity higher
Winnie stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Felicity has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Felicity | Winnie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #194 |
| 1890s | — | #182 |
| 1900s | — | #212 |
| 1910s | — | #266 |
| 1920s | — | #322 |
| 1930s | #3559 | #379 |
| 1940s | #4310 | #552 |
| 1950s | #4211 | #975 |
| 1960s | #3429 | #1552 |
| 1970s | #2244 | #2066 |
| 1980s | #2210 | #2462 |
| 1990s | #1390 | #2260 |
| 2000s | #633 | #2403 |
| 2010s | #493 | #1546 |
| 2020s | #448 | #614 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Felicity
Happiness, good fortune
From Latin felicitas, from felix — fortunate, fruitful, happy. The same root gives the name Felix.
Felix → Felicitas → Félicité → Felicity
How it traveled
Felicitas was a Roman personification of good fortune, honored with temples in the city and stamped on Roman coins. The word passed into Christian use as a name, carried by Felicitas, a martyr venerated at Rome from the early centuries of the church, and it spread through medieval Europe as Félicité in France and Felicita in Italy.
Winnie
blessed reconciliation, or friend of peace, depending on which root you follow
Winnie is the short form of Winifred, and Winifred has two roots that met. The Welsh name Gwenfrewi joins gwen, 'white, fair, blessed', with a second element usually read as 'reconciliation'. When English speakers reshaped it, they pulled it toward the Old English man's name Winfrith, from wine 'friend' and frith 'peace'. Winnie can also be the short form of Winona or Edwina, which carry meanings of their own.
Gwenfrewi → Winefride → Winifred → Winnie
How it traveled
The saint came first: Gwenfrewi, venerated in north Wales, her name Latinized in church records as Winefride and eventually settled in English as Winifred. English ears heard in it the older Anglo-Saxon Winfrith, 'friend of peace', and the two names effectively fused.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Felicity
fuh-LIS-uh-tee
Stress on the second syllable, exactly like the English noun felicity. Some speakers compress the ending to fuh-LIS-tee in quick speech.
- Flick — Long-established informal short form, chiefly British and Australian; rarely used as a name on its own.
- Fliss — Informal, also mostly British; occasionally spelled Flis or Flissy.
- Lissy — Informal, taken from the middle of the name; also spelled Lissie.
- Fee — Casual family short form, one syllable.
- Also Fifi.
Winnie
WIN-ee
Stress on the first syllable, rhyming with 'skinny'. No regional variation to speak of in English.
- Win — The one step shorter; used within families and occasionally as a standalone name.
- Winnie — Historically the pet form of Winifred, now given as a full legal name in its own right at least as often.
- Freddie — Only where the full name is Winifred; used by some English families, and independently popular as a name of its own.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Felicity if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsFelicity is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itFelicity runs 4 syllables, Winnie 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Flick, Fliss and Lissy
- a newer arrivalFelicity entered the US charts in 1935
Choose Winnie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 294 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesWinnie is 2 syllables to Felicity's 4
- a long American recordWinnie was already in use when US records began in 1880
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Felicity
Strengths
- Spelled the way the English dictionary word is spelled, so most people get it right the first time without being told.
- A documented line running from Roman Latin through medieval France to English, unbroken for centuries.
- Several established informal short forms — Flick, Fliss, Lissy, Fee — so there is room for a nickname without inventing one.
To consider
- Because it is also a common noun, it can be read as a word before it is read as a name — and the noun sounds a touch formal or literary in everyday American English.
- Felicia and Felice are separate names that sound close, so expect the occasional mishearing or correction over the phone.
- In the US the name's whole run is recent, which means nearly everyone carrying it is young — it reads as current rather than inherited.
Winnie
Strengths
- One obvious spelling that almost everyone already knows how to read and write, in English and beyond.
- Works either way on paper: a full given name on its own, or the short form of Winifred, Winona or Edwina if you want a longer option in reserve.
- In unbroken use for well over a century, and still strongly represented among the oldest generations — a family-sounding name rather than a new coinage.
To consider
- Winnie-the-Pooh is close to universal, and small children will make the connection immediately and often. Most families find it affectionate rather than a problem, but it is not avoidable.
- It is a diminutive by origin, so if you ever want a longer formal version available, that choice has to be made at the registrar's desk, not later.
- Winnie also serves as a short form for men's names such as Winston, though in American records it sits firmly on the girls' side.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Felicity and Winnie in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Felicity and Winnie?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Virtue names, from Grace to Justice
- Four-syllable names that carry
- Eight-letter names with presence
- Names that begin and end with the same letter
- all guides
Where Felicity and Winnie each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Felicity or Winnie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Felicity or Winnie?
- Felicity, in 2025: Felicity ranked #473 with 653 babies; Winnie ranked #475 with 646 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Felicity or Winnie?
- Winnie. Over the last five years Felicity moved down 90 places; Winnie moved up 294 places.
- Which is the older name, Felicity or Winnie?
- Felicity entered the US charts in 1935; Winnie was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Winnie is the older name.
- How many people are named Felicity and Winnie?
- About 18,500 people named Felicity are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 10,500 people named Winnie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Felicitys or Winnies in the classroom?
- Felicity will almost certainly be the only one in school. Winnie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Felicity, Winnie and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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