Luke
Meaning of Luke
Luke comes from the Greek name Loukas, which most name dictionaries connect to the Latin word for "light" and gloss as "light-giving" or "bringer of light." The name reached English through the Latin Lucas, and it is the name borne by the author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, a physician and companion of Paul in the New Testament. Luke is pronounced "look" in both American and British English, with a short vowel as in "book."
Beyond the evangelist, the name's best-known bearers include the actors Luke Perry, remembered as Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills 90210 and Fred Andrews on Riverdale, and Luke Evans, the Welsh actor and singer. In sports it is familiar through the footballer Luke Shaw and the former NFL linebacker Luke Kuechly, and in music through Luke Kelly, a founding member of The Dubliners.
Luke was modestly used in the United States for much of the twentieth century, ranking 472nd in 1920 and falling to 598th by 1942. It climbed steeply from the 1970s, reaching 97th in 1980, and rose further to a peak of 28th in 2014 and 2015, when more than 10,500 babies received the name in a single year. It has eased since, ranking 33rd in 2025 with 6,948 babies, still firmly among the most common boys' names in the country.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as look (/luk/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Luke
| Luke Kuechly is a former NFL linebacker who starred at Boston College as a two time consensus All American and spent eight seasons with the Carolina Panthers after being drafted ninth overall in 2012. |
| Luke Bryan is an American country singer and TV personality, a five-time Entertainer of the Year with over 75 million records sold, whose Crash My Party won ACM Album of the Decade, and a judge on American Idol since 2018. |
| Luke Rockhold is an American retired mixed martial artist and former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion now signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and Karate Combat. |
| Luke Shaw is an English footballer who plays left back and center back for Manchester United and the England national team. |
| Dublin-born Luke Kelly, a founding member of The Dubliners in 1962, was a distinctive folk singer and actor widely hailed as one of the greatest in Irish music. |
| Luke Walton is an American basketball coach and former forward, a two time NBA champion with the Lakers who also won a title as a Warriors assistant, later led the Lakers and Kings, and now is the Detroit Pistons lead assistant. |
| Luke Perry was an American actor and teen idol best known as Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills 90210 and as Fred Andrews on Riverdale, with notable film roles including Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. |
| Luke Evans is a Welsh actor and singer who began on the West End stage and broke out in Clash of the Titans before starring in Immortals, The Raven, and The Three Musketeers. |
| Luke Combs is an American country singer from North Carolina who left college for Nashville and released his debut EP The Way She Rides in 2014. |
| Luke Hemmings is an Australian singer and founding member of 5 Seconds of Summer, where he is lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, and the band has sold over 10 million albums and earned billions of streams worldwide. |
| Luke Armstrong is an English striker for Carlisle United. |
| Luke Joseph Weathers Jr., a Tuskegee Airman, won the Distinguished Flying Cross for shielding a damaged bomber and downing two enemy fighters, later serving as an African American air traffic controller. |
| Luke Wilson is an American actor best known for films like Bottle Rocket, Legally Blonde, The Royal Tenenbaums, Old School, and Idiocracy. |
