Felisa
Feminine · “lucky”
The s in this name is Spanish and the c in Felicia is English. Both spell the same sound, and the difference is not a respelling at all but a choice between two languages' conventions for writing the consonant that ends the Latin stem. Felisa is the Spanish answer and it is entirely regular.
How old is the name Felisa?
Felisa first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Felisa alive today was born around 1970, making them about 55 years old. About 1,800 people named Felisa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Felisa most popular?
Felisa peaked in 1968, reaching #1210 nationally. See the whole 1968 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From felix to Felisa
The story of Felisa
A Roman general once added the word to his own name as an official claim. After winning a civil war and having himself made dictator, he took Felix as a formal additional name — not a nickname but part of his legal style, appearing in inscriptions — and explained it as meaning that the gods were visibly on his side. It was propaganda and it was also, by Roman standards, a theological argument: success on that scale was evidence of divine favor, and saying so was a way of daring anyone to disagree. The word had meant lucky. He used it to mean chosen, and the shift stuck.
Meaning
lucky, fortunate
From the Latin adjective, feminine form. The sense is secure and has not shifted; what has shifted is how seriously the claim was taken, which is the subject below.
How the name formed
- felix
- Felisa
- Felicia
Related forms: Felisa · Felicia · Felisa
Pronouncing Felisa
feh-LEE-sah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Spanish gives the s its plain value; English speakers sometimes voice it to a z, which Spanish never does.
Nicknames for Felisa
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 197092 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1210reached in 1968
- Change vs 2021
- 0.0%5 in 2024, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Felisa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Felisa in Spanish — same name
- Felicia in Italian — spelling variant
- Felisa in Portuguese — same name
Felisas among us
people named Felisa are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Felisa sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is a completely regular Spanish name rather than a respelling of an English one.
- The meaning is straightforwardly positive and needs no explaining.
- Lisa sits inside it as a short form that stands entirely alone.
- English speakers will substitute Felicia, which is a different spelling of the same name.
- The s is often voiced by English speakers in a way Spanish does not.
- The generation that used it in America is now elderly.
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What they receive
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Felisa
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Felisas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,800 people named Felisa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Felisa in 2025?
- Felisa is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Felisa with classmates?
- Felisa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More F names
The most-given names starting with F, all years combined.
Frances#318 · Florence#391 · Faith#254 · Felicia#5554 · Fannie#3342 · Faye#514 · Flora#607 · Freda#6546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Felisa? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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