as a First Name
Middle English vernacular form of Lucas, Latin form of the post-classical Greek name Loukas ‘man from Lucania’. This owes its perennial popularity throughout Christian Europe to the fact that, from the 2nd century onwards, the third gospel in the New Testament has been ascribed to the Lucas or Luke mentioned at various places in Acts and in the Epistles. Little is known about him beyond the facts that he was a doctor, a Gentile, and a friend and convert of St Paul. The name was borne by the character Luke Skywalker in the film Star Wars (1977), and rose sharply in popularity in the 1990s.
| 609th in the U.S. for 2011 |
Nicknames & variations
Quick facts
- Tens of Thousands
- of people in the U.S have this name
- 76,931
- to be exact (as of February 2011)
- 189,695
- if you include dead people (since the government started keeping track)
- Minnesota
- has the most people named Luke per capita
- 2005
- marked the height of its popularity
0.02%
99.98%
1%
55+
55+
12%
30-54
30-54
20%
13-29
13-29
68%
0-12
0-12
Top state populations
U.S. Distribution Map
