Felix - Meaning of Felix
[ 2 syll. fe-lix, fel-ix ] The baby boy name Felix is pronounced in Dutch as FEYLihKS, in English as FIYLihKS, or in German as FEHLihKS †. Felix is used predominantly in the Dutch, English, German, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Scandinavian, and Slavic languages, and it is derived from Latin origins. The name's meaning is lucky, happy, successful. The first name is derived from a Roman nickname Felix (Latin) of the element 'felix'.
The byname was adopted by the Roman dictator Sulla (138-78 BC), who believed that he was particularly blessed with luck by the gods. In the Bible, the name was borne by the governor of Judea who imprisoned Paul. The auspicious meaning of the name made it popular among English speakers in medieval times, especially among Christians in allusion to their happiness in finding their faith; it has to date been borne by 5 popes and 67 saints listed in the Roman martyrology. The name later saw a revival in popularity in the 19th century. As a name, Felix has sometimes been associated with a cat, as the Latin word for a cat is 'felis'; Felix the Cat (1919-) is a cartoon character created in the silent film era. The name has also been borne by the lead character of George Eliot's novel Felix Holt (1866). In Ireland, the name has been used as an English form of Phelim. The name Felicia (Dutch, English, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Scandinavian, and Spanish) and the name Felicity (English) are the female versions of Felix.
The name Felix is widely used; it has 31 variants that are used in English and other languages. Variants used in English include Fee, Felice (used in Italian as well), Felicianus, Felicien, Felicio, Felicius, Felike, Feliz, Felizio, Felíx, Felo, Felyx, Félice, Filix, and Phelix.
Foreign variants of Felix include Bodog (Hungarian), Feel (Dutch), Fela (Czech), Felex (Spanish), Felic (Hungarian and Irish), Feliciano (Italian), Felicián (Hungarian), Feliks (Polish, Russian, and Slavic), Feliu (Catalan), Felixiano (Spanish), Felizano (Spanish), Feliziano (Spanish), Félicien (French), Félix (French), Pelike (Hawaiian), and Pitin (Spanish).
Felix is a fairly popular baby name for boys. Its usage peaked modestly in 1902 with 0.086% of baby boys being given the name Felix. It ranked at #154 then. The baby name has since steeply declined in popularity, and is in recent years of infrequent use. In 2012, its usage was only 0.051% and its ranking #316, but it was nonetheless the most popular among all boy names in its group.
Baby names that sound like Felix include Falac, Falach, Falack, Falak, Falake, Falco, Falko, Fallos, Fallowes, Fallows, Felic, Felice, Feliks, Feliz, Flashea, Flashee, Flashey, Flashi, Flashie, and Flashy.
† Pronunciation for Felix: F as in "fee (F.IY)" ; EY as in "ate (EY.T)" ; L as in "lay (L.EY)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; K as in "key (K.IY)" ; S as in "see (S.IY)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; EH as in "ebb (EH.B)"
Details of famous persons named Felix:
Actor Felix Aylmer, born Felix Edward Aylmer, 21 February 1889 - 2 September 1979, Corsham, Wiltshire, England.
Composer Felix Mendelssohn, born Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, February 3, 1809 - November 4, 1847, Hamburg, Germany.