DeFelice
A surname meaning “of Felice” or “descended from Felice,” built from the personal name Felice, “happy” or “fortunate.”
The #8,559 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 80,235 Americans shares it.
Etymology
DeFelice is an Italian surname built from the preposition de, meaning “of” or “from,” plus the personal name Felice. Felice comes from Latin felix, meaning “happy,” “fortunate,” or “lucky.” In origin, the surname would have identified someone as the child or family member of a man named Felice, or as someone associated with that name.
History
The name is especially Italian in form and is common in areas where Italian surnames were preserved in immigrant communities. In records outside Italy, it may appear as De Felice, Defelice, or occasionally de Felice, depending on how clerks standardized the spelling. Because Felice is also a given name, the surname may have arisen independently in more than one family line.
Origin
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Fun fact
Felice is one of those surnames that literally carries a positive meaning: it ultimately comes from the Latin word for “fortunate.”