Luke Name Meaning

Luke is a name derived from the Greek Loukas, meaning “from Lucania.” He’s strong in sound, exuding a presence that can’t be ignored. He’s less formal than the longer Lucas but hardly feels like a nickname. Much like Liam, he stands his ground just fine on his own two feet and has nipped at his heels in popularity throughout history.

The name is popular among Christians, as Luke is a biblical name. Appearing in the New Testament with the Gospel of Luke, the name has strong ties to the religion and is often seen in Sunday school circles and play groups. Similarly, the name has a strong following among Star Wars fans as character Luke Skywalker has a commanding presence in the series. This usage gives him a hefty dose of action hero cool factor.

Luke has aged gracefully over the years, never seeming dated or trendy thanks to his slow climb and consistent popularity. He isn’t a name seen everywhere, yet he’s easily recognizable as a familiar favorite. He’s also short and to the point, avoiding the worry of silly or unwanted nicknames.

Those looking for variants of the name can explore longer versions like Lucas/Lukasor Luka/Luca. For similar names, try out Jack, Jude, or Paul.

Infographic of Luke name meaning, which is From the Greek Loukas, Luke means from Lucania.
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Luke Name Popularity

How popular is the name Luke? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 288 37 0.0105%
1911 396 21 0.0056%
1912 448 39 0.0077%
1913 403 73 0.0129%
1914 379 117 0.0168%
1915 416 125 0.0138%
1916 411 140 0.0145%
1917 446 119 0.0119%
1918 459 125 0.0116%
1919 470 121 0.0116%
1920 491 116 0.0104%
1921 494 120 0.0105%
1922 449 150 0.0135%
1923 467 131 0.0117%
1924 440 154 0.0133%
1925 493 114 0.0101%
1926 482 122 0.0111%
1927 508 108 0.0098%
1928 505 110 0.0103%
1929 493 104 0.01%
1930 513 95 0.0091%
1931 486 99 0.01%
1932 436 129 0.0131%
1933 597 59 0.0063%
1934 565 74 0.0077%
1935 528 80 0.0082%
1936 550 72 0.0075%
1937 569 68 0.0069%
1938 538 80 0.0078%
1939 523 82 0.0081%
1940 554 76 0.0072%
1941 583 68 0.006%
1942 627 63 0.005%
1943 569 80 0.0061%
1944 582 71 0.0057%
1945 561 73 0.006%
1946 593 77 0.0052%
1947 532 119 0.0071%
1948 526 115 0.0072%
1949 526 119 0.0074%
1950 532 120 0.0075%
1951 526 124 0.0073%
1952 575 106 0.0061%
1953 583 107 0.006%
1954 538 138 0.0075%
1955 505 167 0.0091%
1956 479 204 0.0108%
1957 457 239 0.0124%
1958 426 298 0.0158%
1959 437 294 0.0155%
1960 387 375 0.0198%
1961 387 379 0.0201%
1962 398 371 0.0202%
1963 397 369 0.0206%
1964 378 396 0.0225%
1965 409 333 0.0204%
1966 413 296 0.019%
1967 419 289 0.019%
1968 403 331 0.022%
1969 373 404 0.0262%
1970 352 495 0.0311%
1971 349 482 0.0321%
1972 320 532 0.0391%
1973 285 602 0.0464%
1974 263 699 0.0538%
1975 256 748 0.0582%
1976 221 902 0.07%
1977 187 1,233 0.0915%
1978 137 1,889 0.1405%
1979 110 2,473 0.1754%
1980 97 3,109 0.2126%
1981 100 3,016 0.2052%
1982 118 2,473 0.1655%
1983 105 2,640 0.1789%
1984 110 2,472 0.1662%
1985 106 2,739 0.1805%
1986 106 2,646 0.1753%
1987 111 2,591 0.1698%
1988 119 2,617 0.1679%
1989 121 2,705 0.1676%
1990 118 2,871 0.1732%
1991 113 3,014 0.1849%
1992 93 4,064 0.2546%
1993 87 4,352 0.2791%
1994 91 4,090 0.2665%
1995 82 4,628 0.3071%
1996 75 5,016 0.335%
1997 78 4,952 0.3348%
1998 75 5,284 0.353%
1999 67 6,136 0.4097%
2000 59 7,142 0.4675%
2001 50 8,005 0.5313%
2002 46 8,692 0.58%
2003 46 9,299 0.6112%
2004 41 9,593 0.6294%
2005 41 10,004 0.6543%
2006 43 10,085 0.6441%
2007 46 9,603 0.6086%
2008 43 9,417 0.6093%
2009 47 8,616 0.5765%
2010 41 8,838 0.6133%
2011 39 8,701 0.6107%
2012 37 9,008 0.6321%
2013 34 9,568 0.672%
2014 28 10,503 0.7209%
2015 28 10,270 0.7058%
2016 29 9,974 0.6918%
2017 30 9,163 0.6565%
2018 29 8,577 0.6243%
2019 32 8,375 0.6187%
2020 31 7,637 0.6%
2021 32 7,660 0.6266%
2022 34 7,248 0.5494%
2023 31 7,244 0.5597%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Luke

If you like Luke, you’ll love these other names like Luke.

What names are diminutives of Luke?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Luke sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Luke, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Lou

Famous warrior

German

Louie

Famous warrior

German

Luck

From Lucanus

Greek

Lucky

Fortunate

Modern

What names are variants of Luke?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Luke.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Loukas

From Lucania

Greek

Luc

From Lucanus

Greek

Lucas

From Lucania

Latin

Luce

Light

Latin

Lucian

Light

Latin

Lucien

Light; from Lucanus

Latin

Lucio

Light; from Lucanus

Latin

Lucius

From Lucanus

Greek

Lukacs

From Lucanus

Greek

Lukacz
Lukan

From Lucania

Latin

Lukas

From Lucania

German

Luken

From Lucania

American

What names sound like Luke?

If you like how Luke sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Luke.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Juke

Dance Suggestively

American

Lucaster

A variant form of Lucius.

Luz

Light

Spanish

What names are similar to Luke?

Find a name that’s like Luke, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
David

Beloved

Hebrew

Joel

Yahweh is God

Hebrew

John

God is gracious

Hebrew

Matthew

Gift of God

Hebrew

Michael

Who is Like God?

Hebrew

Noah

To rest

Hebrew

Paul

Small

Latin

Samuel

Name of God

Hebrew

Simon

He has heard

Hebrew

Thomas

Twin

Greek

Lists With Luke

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Luke.

Siblings of Luke

Mamas with kids named Luke also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Graceann
Anna

Gracious

Hebrew

Miah

Spanish

Izabella

Devoted to God

Italian

Caleb

Whole heart

Hebrew

Michael

Who is Like God?

Hebrew

Matthew

Gift of God

Hebrew

Destiny

Determined fate

English

James

Supplanter

English

Lily

Lily flower

English

Emila

Rival; laborious; eager

Latin

Christopher

Bearing Christ

English

Harper

Harp Player

English

Leia

Weary one

Hebrew

Jorge

Farmer

Spanish

47 Comments

  1. Sweet and short name – not a lot of nicknames

    Reply

  2. Luke was chosen from a family name, we chose it not only because it was a short version of my maiden name, but because we liked the name itself. It was short, simple and easy.

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  3. My husband and I went through lists of names and narrow it down to 10 or so we wanted something biblical and with a nice meaning so we ended with Luke

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  4. Mostly our nieces and nephew started calling him Bubba Luke when they found out we were having a baby. Once he was born, it was hard to imagine the other names on our list. We love the simplicity and Biblical ties. It also means light giving, which is so fitting for our family, and our desires to be God’s light in this world.

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  5. I think he could be mine boyfriend because I don’t have one yet so can he be my because he is hot I love u so much

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  6. I love the name Luke , we named him John Luke for the disciples of Jesus Christ and writers of our favorite books in the Bible.

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  7. After his dad

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  8. My grandson was named Luke & as a twin his sister was rightfully named Leia , starting with me & passing on to my son the joys of STAR WARS it was inevitable that he would choose theses names the moment he discovered they where having twins & they were a boy & a girl

    Reply

  9. Luke means “light giving”

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  10. We chose the name Luke after the gospel of Luke in the Bible. We love the person of Luke in the Bible as He showed faithfulness and humility throughout.

    Reply

  11. We had a list of bible names and this one was the safest for us for our first child because we didn’t know any Luke’s! Just a strong simple handsome name. The only thing i didnt consider was how much Star Wars is a thing in this country ? we are not even fans of the series but about 25% of the time we tell someone his name they name a star wars reference ? was not expecting that!

    Reply

  12. We chose Luke because it’s a classic name, Biblical and it means light! Don’t like how people always make Star Wars references though.

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  13. I have a strong Marian devotion and Luke is a powerful gospel outlining many of her and Jesus’s mission. It is a strong name and simple to spell.

    Reply

  14. We love that it means bearer of light. He will be a shining one in the darkness of the world drawing people to Jesus-the light of the world!

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  15. We had twins…we love Star Wars… stand alone the names are great
    Luke means light, he lights up our world
    The smiley baby is such a gift

    Reply

  16. We named our sweet baby boy Luke after his grand father.

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  17. We’re big fans of modern family and really liked the name.

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  18. We just liked the name! He is doing well and is starting to smile when he looks at us!

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  19. We loved that it was a strong, classic name without being too common. Officially, his name is Lukas to go with the middle name Quay (family name) but we always call him Luke.

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  20. From scripture

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  21. I love the name Luke!!!!!

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  22. Dad is a nerd and mom is a country girl at heart and both have a sense of humor. Luke comes from Luke Skywalker and country singers Luke Bryan and Luke Combs. Also mom has a brother nicknamed Beau (Bo) which gives us Uncle Bo and baby Luke, reminiscent of the old show Dukes of Hazard with Bo and Luke Duke. His middle name is Alan after mom’s favorite uncle (the fun one who let me drive his car at 14 and gave me my first beer lol). Lastly, this combination gives him the initials LAW, also fun!

    Reply

  23. My husband and I chose the name Luke because we love the Star Wars movies and we watched them a lot when we were together. I’ve always loved the name Luke. One downfall is that some people like to call him Lucas because they think Luke is short for Lucas when in fact his legal birth name is Luke, I have to correct people all the time.

    Reply

  24. Luke is our rainbow baby and his name means “Light bringer” so fitting for the light he has brought into our lives! We can’t wait to see the plans God has in store for him.

    Reply

  25. It means light! And he brought our family joy and light!

    Reply

  26. My name is Luke and it is great knowing the deeper meaning of my name

    Reply

  27. I chose the name Luke because of the meaning it means giver of Life.

    Reply

  28. We wanted a short name, for some reason I don’t like when people shorten names.

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  29. We loved the name Luke, simple classic & strong.

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  30. We chose Luke because it’s a Biblical name, everyone can pronounce it, and there aren’t any Lukes on either side of the family.

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  31. Luke is one of the four gospels from the Bible (New Testament) I chose Luke because people with the name Luke always have good characters and Luke was a saint who wrote the book of Luke in the New Testament.

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  32. Luke is my middle child and he is just wonderful . He loves to play with other kids and enjoy going to church and Sunday school.

    Reply

  33. Its a cute country sounding name

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  34. Luke means light, I love the idea of my boy bringing light to everyone wherever he goes. I believe when we speak baby’s name it’s what we are speaking over them. So we chose Luke and at only 10 days old he’s been a joy and light to our lives! Luke is also the male version of the name Lucy which was my grandmas name, so we did it also to honor her.

    Reply

  35. We chose this name because my husband wanted an L name since he’s an N and our first son is an M so L M N and it’s biblical our other sons name is biblical also

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  36. We love the Christian ties to the name Luke and that it is also Irish

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  37. It means light.

    Reply

  38. It was the one we finally agreed on! My husband and I both prefer more traditional names, but he didn’t care for the ones I was suggesting but he wasn’t adding to the list either. One day, I told him to pick from a shortened, ‘final’ list and he picked Luke. It was the one I had picked without telling him, so that was cool too. We both just had peace that it was the right name if we had a boy. Now, we both love our choice and we think it fits our son very well.

    Reply

  40. I chose my sons name because he was born on May 4th which is Star Wars day. So his name is from Star Wars of Luke Skywalker.

    Reply

  41. hi moms
    so Luke’s first name is
    Tarrador I initially fell in love with that name..
    his grandfather picked the name Luke from the bible.
    I love the name Luke as well….its from the bible …
    Luke is my precious little boy..

    Reply

  42. Biblical
    Classic/ common
    Easy to say/ Spell
    Masculine
    Goes well w/ our other children’s names

    Reply

  43. I’ve always loved this name. It was placed on my heart ever since I found out we were having a boy. I appreciate that it’s a Biblical name meaning light giving. Luke was an important figure in the Bible, his telling of Easter is the one referenced too each year.

    Reply

  44. Luke, of love and light felt like a strong name to me and my husband. We had 3 or 4 names to choose from and waited to meet him until we chose a name. Once we met him we both agreed he was a Luke and to this day, his name suits him. He is a ray of sunshine!

    Reply

  45. Meaning: Light. Strong sounding. Classic, readable and won’t go out of style. Cannot be made into a nickname. One syllable (to match a complicated last name.)

    Reply

  46. We were looking for a strong, male name that could also suit a young boy. My husband liked Jack, but I wasn’t a huge fan. Then we thought of Luke. It’s a very strong name, suits both a boy and a man. I’ve never met a Luke I haven’t liked, and in fact, every Luke I can think of is…awesome. There’s Luke, the physician and disciple, from the Bible, which we loved, considering we wanted a biblical name. Plus, my husband is a huge Star Wars fan and actually considered making his middle name Skywalker, but I quickly stopped that idea before it got out of hand. We didn’t choose between Luke and Jack until we met him. We saw him, and he was Luke. We love the name even more now. I have no complaints, except THREE of my Facebook friends named their newborn sons Luke right after we had our Luke. I guess I can take it as a compliment to the awesome name I chose 🙂

    Reply

  47. Luke means “light” and we wanted a name that reminded us of Gods Name “jehovah-Or” the God of Light. we’re hoping he will be a light colored boy too so the name suits his complexion too haha

    Reply

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