Presumably from the Latin verb laetus, meaning happy.
― Anonymous User 2/18/2022
3
According to https://meilleursprenoms.com/prenom/Laetitia, "Ce prénom émergeait tout juste en France lorsque Serge Gainsbourg en fit une chanson. En 1963, ce tube accélère la croissance de Laetitia qui atteint son zénith au 4e rang féminin en 1982." [noted -ed]
― Anonymous User 2/17/2022
1
I really like the name Laetitia because my mother's cousin has this as a middle name. Leticia and Letizia are good alternative spellings too, but I don't like Letitia. At least it would be more popular soon. For the pronunciation, I think this name should be pronounced as Læ-tee-sya since the "ae" sounds like æ in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet, not Science in my language's abbreviation!).
Laetitia Marie Laure Casta is a French actress and model. Casta became a "GUESS? Girl" in 1993 and gained further recognition as a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1998 to 2000 and as a spokesperson for cosmetics company L'Oreal.
'Laetitia' is the word for 'happiness' or 'joy' in Latin, pronounced 'lie-TI-tee-uh'. Personally I could never use this name because it just reminds me that I have to study for Latin vocab quizzes.
― Anonymous User 6/14/2013
3
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, this name's pronunciation is [le.Ti.ʦja]. This gives, according to this site's pronunciation guide, approximately "lay-tee-tsia", but with a short "ee" sound. This name is pronounced with a slight stress, if any, on the last syllable.
This name brings to my mind a little girl who's happy all the time (unrealistic as that may be), smiling and charming (through childlike cuteness) her way into the hearts of everyone around her. That said, all three of its bearers that I know in real life are mature and pragmatic young women; that said, the one I know best out of the three has a funny side that she only shows to friends, so that causes what I know of her to partially match my impression of the name. What gives? In time to come, I might come to think of this name as one that ages well.
Princess Maria Laetitia of Belgium (born in 2000) is a granddaugther of king Albert II. Her siblings are Maria Laura, Luisa Maria, Amedeo, and Joachim.