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Boy · Latin
Lucius
Say it: LOO-shus
Meaning
Roman writers such as Varro linked it to Latin lux 'light', explaining it as a name for a child born at daybreak; most scholars accept the link to light.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
A very common Roman praenomen (abbreviated L.) that was revived as a given name in 18th- and 19th-century Britain and America.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1880s
In the United States
- 9,326 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1881, about 1 in 2,700 boys
- 150 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- Ancient Rome750 BC to AD 476
- The Age of Revolutions1750 to 1837
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
| Italian | Lucio |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Lucio |
| Portuguese | Lúcio |
| French | Luce |
| Romanian | Luciu |
Famous bearers
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Roman philosopher
- Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Roman dictator
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Roman literature and history (Livy, Cicero, Tacitus and others)
- Roman inscriptions and tombstones
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.