Felix
A surname from the Latin name Felix, meaning “happy” or “fortunate.”
The #863 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,687 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Felix comes from the Latin personal name Felix, which meant “happy,” “fortunate,” or “blessed.” In surname use, it is typically a name taken from an ancestor’s given name rather than from a trade or place. Some 19th-century writers also treated it simply as the personal name itself, later inherited as a family name.
History
The name Felix was well known in Roman and Christian contexts, which helped it survive into later European naming traditions. In English records it can appear as a hereditary surname derived from a bearer’s given name. It is also common in continental Europe and in communities influenced by Latin-based naming.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Medieval writers grouped Felix with other “good names” because of its positive meaning, alongside names like Fortunatus.
From the historical record
“FEED. An old form of Field. FELIX. Happy : a latinization, or the personal name. |^°FELL. A component sjdlable in many local surnames, (see Fell below), such a? Felbridge, Fellgate, Feltham, Felton, Greufell, &c. FELL. FELLS. ''Bij frith and hy fell;' a common medievalism ; equivalent to the classical "jjer mlvam…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom