girl's name
Laetitia
lay-TEE-shuh
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Letters 8
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 144,722
Laetitia means joy, and it is the Latin original standing behind the far more common Letitia and Lettice. Its 1982 French peak of 8,380 births is the largest single-year figure anywhere in this group.
- Laetitia is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1982, when 9,140 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 29,475 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
Laetitia over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 85 |
| 1910s | 50 |
| 1920s | 45 |
| 1930s | 35 |
| 1940s | 30 |
| 1950s | 125 |
| 1960s | 2,420 |
| 1970s | 47,575 |
| 1980s | 66,270 |
| 1990s | 20,610 |
| 2000s | 4,930 |
| 2010s | 1,065 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 235 |
What Laetitia means
Laetitia means joy, gladness or delight. The Latin laetitia is the ordinary abstract noun, so the name states the quality directly rather than describing a person.
Where Laetitia comes from
Laetitia is the Latin for joy, from laetus, glad. It was used by Romans and taken up by medieval Christians, and English wore it down to Letitia and then to Lettice, which was a common name for centuries before the salad vegetable made it unusable. The French kept the full Latin spelling with the ae ligature, which is why the French form looks more classical than the English one. Napoleon's mother was Maria Letizia Ramolino, and the Italian Letizia is the same name again.
Laetitia in use
Laetitia peaked in France in 1982, when 9,140 babies were registered — the largest single-year figure in this group — and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 1744th in France on 30 births, across 144,722 lifetime births. Like Aurélie and Christelle it shows a very tall, very narrow French curve with no second market to carry it.
How popular is Laetitia?
In 2025, Laetitia was given to 20 babies in France. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Laetitia is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Laetitia is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Laëtitia | Laëtitia is a rare spelling of Laetitia, written with a diaeresis and recorded about 10,115 times, mostly in France. | 10,115 |
| Laétitia | Laétitia is a rare spelling of Laetitia, written with an acute accent and recorded about 935 times, mostly in France. | 935 |
| Laêtitia | Laêtitia is a rare spelling of Laetitia, written with a circumflex and recorded about 30 times, mostly in France. | 30 |
| Lætitia | Lætitia is a variant spelling of Laetitia, recorded in France. | 15 |
Names that peaked alongside Laetitia
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Laetitia also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Laetitia over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Laetitia
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Laetitia in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Italian
- Letizia
Sibling names for Laetitia
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Laetitia — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Laetitia
What does the name Laetitia mean?
Joy — the Latin laetitia, from laetus, glad.
Is Laetitia the same as Letitia?
Yes. Laetitia is the full Latin spelling; English wore it down to Letitia and then Lettice.
Why did Lettice fall out of use?
The salad vegetable made it unusable, though it was common for centuries before that.
How popular was Laetitia?
It peaked in France in 1982 at 8,380 births, the largest figure in this group.
Is Laetitia a girl's or a boy's name?
Laetitia is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
What are the nicknames for Laetitia?
Laetitia is usually shortened to Titia.
Is Laetitia a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Laetitia currently ranks #1,744 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.