Fun Facts About the Name Luca
- Gaining ground: Luca remained in the U.S. top 100 for 7 consecutive years, from 2019 through 2025. In 2025, it gained 9 ranking positions compared with the previous year.
- More than 79 thousand babies named Luca: U.S. records list 79,155 babies given the name Luca from 1880 through 2025. Even 1,689 girls received the name Luca - about 1 girl for every 46 boys.
What Does the Name Luca Mean?
Luca is the Italian form of Lucas, which goes back to the Latin Lucas and, before that, to the Greek Loukas (Λουκᾶς). The most widely accepted explanation of the Greek name is that it is a byname meaning "man from Lucania," a district of southern Italy; the origin of the place name Lucania itself is not settled. A second, often repeated explanation connects Loukas with the Latin lux, "light," or with the Roman name Lucius. That reading is a customary interpretation rather than a firmly documented etymology, and the two explanations are usually presented side by side without a decisive answer.
Hungarian Luca is a separate name with a separate source. It is the Hungarian form of Lucia, a feminine name built on the Latin lux, "light." The two names look identical in print but are unrelated. The English Luke and the Slavic Luka share the Greek origin of the Italian form.
Luca Name History & Origins
The name entered European use through Loukas (Λουκᾶς), the Greek name of Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul who is traditionally credited with the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Paul's letter to the Colossians calls him "the beloved physician," and an old tradition holds that he painted a portrait of the Virgin Mary, which is why he came to be regarded as a patron of painters. His feast day is October 18 in the Western church. The Latin form Lucas spread with the saint's cult through medieval Europe, and Italian Luca descends from that Latin form.
Luca is the ordinary Italian masculine form of the name. It appears repeatedly in medieval and Renaissance Italy in the names of the sculptor Luca della Robbia, the mathematician Luca Pacioli, and the painters Luca Signorelli and Luca Giordano, and it is also common as an Italian surname. In Italy the given name is masculine.
In Hungary, Luca is a feminine name and developed independently as the Hungarian form of Lucia, not from the Italian name. Its day, December 13 (Luca nap), was tied to a body of folk customs, including carving a wooden "Luca chair" and planting "Luca wheat" to forecast the coming year's harvest - traditions that belong to the Hungarian observance of Saint Lucy's feast, not to the evangelist Luke.
In English-speaking countries Luca is now used as a given name in its own right, standing beside the older English form Luke and the surname-derived Lucas.
How Popular is the Name Luca?
Luca recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2025. Luca entered the top 100 U.S. boy names in 2019.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,675 | 65 | 0.0040% |
| 2024 | #2,755 | 62 | 0.0038% |
| 2023 | #2,187 | 87 | 0.0054% |
| 2022 | #2,285 | 82 | 0.0050% |
| 2021 | #1,762 | 116 | 0.0071% |
| 2020 | #2,041 | 91 | 0.0056% |
| 2019 | #2,040 | 94 | 0.0056% |
| 2018 | #2,074 | 93 | 0.0055% |
| 2017 | #2,082 | 94 | 0.0054% |
| 2016 | #2,337 | 81 | 0.0046% |
| 2015 | #2,607 | 69 | 0.0039% |
| 2014 | #2,604 | 68 | 0.0038% |
| 2013 | #2,397 | 76 | 0.0043% |
| 2012 | #2,754 | 64 | 0.0036% |
| 2011 | #2,853 | 61 | 0.0035% |
| 2010 | #2,959 | 58 | 0.0033% |
| 2009 | #2,584 | 72 | 0.0039% |
| 2008 | #3,009 | 58 | 0.0031% |
| 2007 | #3,451 | 48 | 0.0025% |
| 2006 | #4,222 | 35 | 0.0018% |
| 2005 | #3,559 | 42 | 0.0023% |
| 2004 | #3,205 | 48 | 0.0026% |
| 2003 | #3,923 | 35 | 0.0019% |
| 2002 | #4,041 | 32 | 0.0018% |
| 2001 | #5,972 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2000 | #10,391 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1999 | #12,143 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1998 | #9,783 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1988 | #11,186 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1987 | #8,437 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #14 | 8,759 | 0.5128% |
| 2024 | #23 | 7,959 | 0.4640% |
| 2023 | #24 | 7,804 | 0.4568% |
| 2022 | #28 | 7,848 | 0.4499% |
| 2021 | #42 | 6,888 | 0.3940% |
| 2020 | #67 | 4,831 | 0.2800% |
| 2019 | #87 | 4,421 | 0.2465% |
| 2018 | #106 | 3,614 | 0.1991% |
| 2017 | #130 | 3,091 | 0.1671% |
| 2016 | #151 | 2,755 | 0.1452% |
| 2015 | #157 | 2,617 | 0.1366% |
| 2014 | #185 | 2,304 | 0.1200% |
| 2013 | #201 | 1,902 | 0.1006% |
| 2012 | #223 | 1,617 | 0.0853% |
| 2011 | #260 | 1,340 | 0.0706% |
| 2010 | #272 | 1,275 | 0.0665% |
| 2009 | #281 | 1,199 | 0.0605% |
| 2008 | #305 | 1,097 | 0.0538% |
| 2007 | #312 | 1,056 | 0.0509% |
| 2006 | #348 | 872 | 0.0424% |
| 2005 | #400 | 707 | 0.0354% |
| 2004 | #393 | 686 | 0.0346% |
| 2003 | #463 | 544 | 0.0275% |
| 2002 | #525 | 430 | 0.0221% |
| 2001 | #586 | 342 | 0.0176% |
| 2000 | #626 | 297 | 0.0151% |
| 1999 | #1,066 | 128 | 0.0067% |
| 1998 | #1,118 | 115 | 0.0060% |
| 1997 | #1,359 | 82 | 0.0043% |
| 1996 | #1,272 | 87 | 0.0046% |
| 1995 | #1,473 | 66 | 0.0035% |
| 1994 | #1,525 | 62 | 0.0032% |
| 1993 | #1,454 | 65 | 0.0033% |
| 1992 | #1,866 | 44 | 0.0022% |
| 1991 | #2,000 | 38 | 0.0019% |
| 1990 | #2,244 | 32 | 0.0016% |
| 1989 | #2,014 | 36 | 0.0018% |
| 1988 | #1,809 | 38 | 0.0020% |
| 1987 | #1,886 | 34 | 0.0018% |
| 1986 | #3,570 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1985 | #2,267 | 24 | 0.0013% |
| 1984 | #2,588 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 1983 | #2,183 | 24 | 0.0013% |
| 1982 | #2,482 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 1981 | #1,793 | 32 | 0.0018% |
| 1980 | #3,364 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1979 | #2,520 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 1978 | #2,441 | 19 | 0.0012% |
| 1977 | #3,505 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 1976 | #1,911 | 26 | 0.0017% |
| 1975 | #2,601 | 16 | 0.0010% |
| 1974 | #3,065 | 12 | 0.0008% |
| 1972 | #4,262 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1971 | #5,366 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1970 | #4,539 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1969 | #2,795 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1968 | #2,524 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1965 | #2,561 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1963 | #3,225 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1960 | #3,905 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1943 | #3,847 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1929 | #3,145 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1928 | #3,971 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1926 | #3,588 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1925 | #3,602 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1923 | #3,343 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1920 | #4,692 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1919 | #4,546 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1917 | #3,808 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1916 | #3,375 | 7 | 0.0008% |
| 1915 | #3,670 | 6 | 0.0007% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
Explore Name Lists Featuring Luca
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How the Name Luca Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You always bring to completion anything you start. You are generous but like to see returns from your giving. You have an executive ability, you are a leader. You are moral, balanced, honest and intellectual, and you may attain spirituality. You are wise and practical with an appreciation of beauty. You always think before you act. Emergencies may raise your intuitive abilities in order to resolve conflict or situation. You become very creative under the pressure, and have quite original ideas to make the best out of it.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Luca's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Luca's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.