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Luca

Feminine · “from Lucania”

Luca is given to boys far more often — 77,521 boys against 1,690 girls since 1880. See Luca as a boy name

1987high 2021
#2645 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare65 girls in 2025

Luca is the Italian of Luke, and Luke means 'from Lucania' — a region of southern Italy, so the evangelist is named for a place.

How old is the name Luca?

Luca first appears in US birth records in 1987 — 38 years ago. The typical Luca is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,700 people named Luca are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Luca most popular?

Luca peaked in 2021, reaching #1760 nationally. Today it ranks #2645, 885 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.

Compare this nameMore “L” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Luca

Luke wrote the third gospel and Acts, and tradition makes him a physician; his name says only where he or his family came from — Lucania, the arch of the Italian foot. Romanian and Hungarian use Luca for girls. It appears in American records for both sexes in current use.

Meaning

from Lucania

From the Greek Loukas, a short form of Loukanos, 'man from Lucania'. A folk connection to the Latin lux, 'light', is common and is not the source. Luca is the Italian and Romanian form, used for both sexes in Romania and Hungary. The Greek is documented.

How the name formed

  1. Loukanos
  2. Loukas
  3. Luca

Related forms: Luca · Luca · Luke

Pronouncing Luca

LOO-kah

Two syllables, stress on the first. Italian and Romanian say it identically.

Nicknames for Luca

Moderate

LuThe front sound alone, and a short form with real use
LuciAn affectionate stretch, and a name in its own right with a real record
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

GIRLS NAMED · 1987–20251165801166519872025

US babies named Luca per year from 1987 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#17601980s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1987
Most girls named
2021116 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#1760reached in 2021
Change vs 2024
+3.2%65 in 2025, from 63
Luca sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 2021, with 116 girls. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.

Luca in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • Luca in Italian — same name
  • Luca in Romanian — same name
  • Luke in English — related form

Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.

Lucas among us

1,700

people named Luca are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 girl in 24,727 born in 2025 was named Luca

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Luca

#2645
Luca on the 2025 chart
#844
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Luca went to 65 girls in 2025, but Lucca and Luka are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 116, which makes it the 844th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,801 places above the chart.

About 1 girl in 13,856 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 24,727 for Luca itself.

Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method

III

Is it right for you

The Kennetha test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Luca's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kennetha climbed just as high around 1956, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kennetha's path sketches the road Luca is walking now.

40%chance Luca will feel “very 2020s” by 2040
Luca, aligned on its peakKennetha· peak 1956not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-40 yrs+40 yrsKennetha · #10082Luca today
Luca today is about where Kennetha stood in 1960 — 4 years past a #1760-sized peak. By 1975, Kennetha had settled around #4212.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Luca sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.

A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored

Where Luca is headed

19872030

US babies named Luca per year, 1987 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Luca is easing off slowly — about 15% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.

Cooling-15% by 2030projected around #3,095 in 2030

Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.

A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.

Luca beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Luca in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Lucathis name65#2645Caliana65#2645Aaira65#2645Wylie65#2645Henrietta65#2645

US girls given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • That the evangelist's name is a regional origin rather than a meaning is a first-rate fact.
  • Lu and Luci are two short forms, both with real use.
  • Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
What to consider
  • In Italian it is exclusively masculine.
  • The connection to lux, 'light', is a folk etymology.
  • It reads as masculine to most English speakers.

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Luca

Feminine · #2645 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Lucas are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Luca are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Luca?
Luca is the most-used spelling in US records — 65 of the 116 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Lucca and Luka.
How popular is the name Luca in 2025?
Luca ranks #2645 among US girl names in 2025, with 65 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Luca?
About 1 in every 24,727 US girls born in 2025 was named Luca — 65 in all.
Will my child share the name Luca with classmates?
Luca will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Luca

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Caliana#2645 · Aaira#2645 · Wylie#2645 · Henrietta#2645 · Mahogany#2645 · Amaiah#2645 · Charlize#2645 · Esra#2645

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Luca? See the current top 100.

Choosing between Luca and another name?

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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