Luke (name)

Luke
Map of Lucania
Pronunciation	/luːk/
Gender	Masculine
Name day	October 18
Origin
Word/name	Greek
Meaning	"Light"
Other names
Related names	Luc, Luca, Lucas, Lukas

Luke /ˈluːk/ is a male given name, and less commonly, a surname.

The name Luke is derived from the Latin name Lucas or from the Greek Loukas, meaning "man from Lucania" (a region of Italy). Although the name is attested in ancient inscriptions, the best known historical use of the name is in the New Testament. The Gospel of Luke was written around 70 to 90 AD (the exact years are unknown), and was from here that the name was first popularized. Luke, who is credited with the authorship of the Gospel of Luke, was a physician who lived around 30 to 130 AD. Luke is also credited with the Book of Acts in the Bible, and also is mentioned by the Apostle Paul in some of Paul's letters to first-century churches.

Luke is the 21st most popular name for new babies in England and Wales, the 43rd most popular name for new babies in the United States, and the 2,105th most common surname in the US, with 15,000 people (0.006%) sharing the surname.

Popularity of name Luke
in England and Wales

2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	1998
25th	21st	17th	13th	15th	14th	13th

Popularity of name Luke in United States

2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995	1994	1993	1992	1991	1990	1989	1988	1987
43rd	41st	41st	46th	46th	50th	59th	67th	75th	78th	75th	82nd	91st	87th	93rd	113th	118th	121st	119th	111th

Variants in other languages

• Afrikaans: Lukas
• Arabic: لوقا‎‎ (Lūqā)
• Albanian: Luka
• Armenian: Ղուկաս (Ghukas)
• Basque: Lukas
• Belarusian: Лука (Luka)
• Breton: Lukaz
• Bulgarian: Лука (Luka)
• Catalan: Lluc, Lluch, Lluche
• Chinese: 卢克 (Lúkè)
• Cornish: Luk
• Croatian: Luka
• Czech: Lukáš
• Danish: Lukas
• Dutch: Lucas, Luuk
• Esperanto: Luko
• Estonian: Luukas
• Finnish: Luukas
• French: Luc, Lucas
• Georgian: ლუკა (Luka)
• Galician: Lucas
• German: Lukas
• Greek:

  Ancient: Λουκᾶς (Loukas)

  Modern: Λουκάς

• Hakka: Lu-kâ
• Hebrew: לוקה ‎
• Hungarian: Lukács
• Icelandic: Lúkas
• Indonesian: Lukas
• Irish: Lúc, Lúcás
• Italian: Lucacode: it is deprecated
• Japanese: ルカ (Luka)
• Korean: 루가 (Ruga), 누가 (Nuga) or sometimes 루카 (Ruka)
• Latin: Lucas
• Latvian: Lūkas
• Lithuanian: Lukas
• Macedonian: Лука (Luka)
• Malayalam: ലൂക്കാ (Lūkkā)
• Maltese: Luqa
• Norwegian: Lukas
• Persian: لوکا ‎‎
• Piedmontese: Luch
• Polish: Łukasz
• Portuguese: Lucas
• Romanian: Luca
• Russian: Лука́ (Luka)
• Sardinian: Luca
• Scottish Gaelic: Lùcas
• Slovak: Lukáš
• Slovene: Luka
• Serbian: Лука (Luka)
• Spanish: Lucas
• Swedish: Lukas
• Syriac: ܠܘܩܐ‎ Luqa
• Telugu: ల్యూక్ Lyūk
• Thai: ลูคา
• Tagalog: Lucas
• Turkish: Luka
• Ukrainian: Лука (Luka)
• Venetian: Łuca
• Vietnamese: Luca
• Welsh: Lŵc

People known as Luke

• Luke Barry, Irish actor, wrestler, writer
• Luke Brooks (born 1994), Australian Rugby League player
• Luke Brookshier (born 1971), American television writer and storyboard artist
• Luke Bryan, American country singer
• Luke Burgess (born 1987), English Rugby League player
• Luther Campbell (born 1960), also known as Luke
• Luke Capewell (born 1989), Australian Rugby League player
• Luke Collis (born 1988), American football player
• Luke Cutts (born 1988), British pole vaulter
• Luke Campbell Donald MBE (born 1977), English professional golfer
• Luke Evans (born 1979), Welsh actor and singer
• Luke Edwards (born 1980), American actor
• Luke Ford (born 1981), Australian actor
• Luke Gardiner, Irish landowner and politician
• Luke Goss (born 1968), singer and actor
• Luke Hemmings, one of the members of the Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer
• Luke Higgins (1921–1991), American football player
• Luke Howard (1772–1864), manufacturing chemist and amateur meteorologist
• Luke Johnson, drummer for Lostprophets
• Luke Keary (born 1992), Australian Rugby League player
• Luke Kelly (1940–1984), folk singer
• Luke Kelly (rugby league) (born 1989), Australian Rugby League player
• Luke Loan Ba Vu and Luke Thin Viet Pham, members of the Vietnamese martyrs
• Steven Lee "Luke" Lukather (born 1957)
• Luke Marshall, Irish rugby player
• Luke McLean, Italian rugby player
• Luke Pasqualino, English actor
• Luke Perry, American actor
• Luke Ravenstahl (born 1980), mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Luke Ross, comic artist
• Luke Shaw, English footballer
• Luke Short, (1854–1893) cowboy and gunfighter
• Luke Tan, singer and songwriter
• Luke Temple, American pop-folk singer-songwriter
• Luke the Evangelist, author and companion of Saul of Tarsus
• Luke Watson, rugby player
• Luke Wilson (born 1971), actor
• Luke Wright (born 1985), English cricketer
• Luke Young (born 1979), English footballer

Fictional people

• Lucky Luke, eponymous character in the Belgian comic book series set in the American Old West.
• Luke, a fictional character from the TV series The Tribe (1999-2003).
• Luke Baker, Degrassi.
• Luke Cage, a comic superhero in the Marvel Universe.
• Luke Danes, a character in the comedy-drama television series Gilmore Girls.
• Luke fon Fabre, the main character of the video game Tales of the Abyss.
• Luke Jackson, eponymous character in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke.
• Luke Ross, a character from the 2011 TV series Jessie
• Luke Skywalker, the main protagonist of the Star Wars original trilogy.
• Luke Smith, a character in the The Sarah Jane Adventures.
• Luke Snyder, a character on the long-running daytime drama As the World Turns.
• Luke Spencer, a character on the long running serial General Hospital.
• Luke the Warrior, an anthropomorphic mouse in the Redwall book series.
• Luke Triton, a character in the Professor Layton video games.

People with the surname

• Derek Luke, (born 1974), American Actor
• Isaac Luke (born 1987), New Zealand rugby league footballer
• Lauren Luke, English makeup artist
• Noel Luke (born 1964), footballer who notably played for Peterborough United
• Peter Luke, writer, editor, and producer
• Yudell Luke, (1918–1983), American mathematician