Rising since 1985, #85 for boys today.
Popularity of Luka since 1975
Babies named Luka per year in U.S. Social Security records.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1970s | 18 |
| 1980s | 43 |
| 1990s | 208 |
| 2000s | 2,016 |
| 2010s | 6,580 |
| 2020s | 20,094 |
Meaning & origin
Luka is a genuinely new arrival by American standards: the spelling first appears in Social Security data in 1975, within living memory, and has been rising since 1985. In 2025 it stands at rank 85, its highest position ever, and reaches about one boy in 441, with no sign yet of a plateau.
The accelerant is not hard to identify. The late 2010s put two Balkan superstars named Luka on American screens, Modrić lifting the Ballon d'Or, Dončić rewriting rookie record books in Dallas, and the name's steepest gains follow immediately after. It helps that Luka slots perfectly into the prevailing sound: two syllables, ending in a, kin to Milo, Leo, and Mateo.
Its geography is distinctive, running strongest in Alaska, South Dakota, and Hawaii, states at the edges of the map where globally flavored names often land first. Parents choosing between spellings should know the Italian Luca charts separately and currently higher, but the K spelling carries the specifically Slavic credential, and the two together make the sound far more common than either rank alone suggests.
Luka is the form of Luke standard in Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian, and Georgian. All descend from Greek Loukas, usually explained as a contraction of Latin Lucanus, "man from Lucania," a region of southern Italy; the popular association with Latin lux, "light," is a later folk connection rather than an attested derivation. The evangelist Luke carried the name throughout Christendom. This spelling barely existed in American records before 1975, and its sharp modern climb tracks two Balkan sports icons, Croatian midfielder Luka Modrić and Slovenian basketball star Luka Dončić, whose 2018 NBA arrival coincided with the name's steepest gains.
Read more: Luka on Wikipedia
Where Luka is most popular
Births per 100,000 boys by state. Press play or drag the slider to watch it move across the decades. The lightest shade means too few recorded births.
“Luka” around the world
Where Luka lands in the latest official birth statistics abroad, matched to the U.S. spelling.
France
215
babies in 2024
Ireland
30
babies in 2025
New Zealand
#43
in 2025
Quebec
48
babies in 2025
Australia (NSW)
#77
in 2025
Sources: INSEE (France) · CSO Ireland (Ireland) · NZ Dept of Internal Affairs (New Zealand) · Retraite Québec (Quebec) · NSW Registry of BDM (Australia (NSW)).
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Lu
Famous people named Luka
- Luka Dončić · Slovenian NBA superstar
- Luka Modrić · Croatian midfielder and 2018 Ballon d'Or winner
Sibling names for Luka
Names that share Luka's style, for a brother or sister.
Sisters: Mila, Elena, Nina, Zara, Ana, Alexi, Danica, Jelena, Katarina, Milana, Milena, Nada, Zora, Elene, Jovana, Mirna, Yana, Zenia, Aleksa, Anica, Janica, Jara, Marica, Marija, Matea, Mikka, Natia, Nikol, Nikolina, Suzana, Yoanna, Yovana, Zelena, Antonela, Asja, Emilija, Ilina, Lanika, Matina, Tanija, Vesna, Vivika, Aleska, Alisi, Iliyana, Ilka, Milika, Mirela, Mirjana, Nevena, Pascha, Raysa, Sanja, Senya, Sofija, Zlaty, Zorana
Brothers: Enzo, Theo, Nico, Mateo, Milan, Crew, Iker, Jovan, Kairo, Marko, Aleksandar, Damir, Gasper, Nicolai, Nikola, Stevan, Aimar, Jaeger, Kosta, Milos, Miran, Novak, Petar, Zoran, Ante, Filip, Ioane, Karlo, Miro, Sava, Siaosi, Tomislav, Zlatan, Ilija, Boyan, Dejan, Dusan, Giorgi, Goran, Iosefa, Mihailo, Mirko, Nikoloz, Pavle, Vuk, Yovan
Names like Luka
Names whose popularity has moved with Luka's over the last 50 years.
