Lucas

Lucas reached English by way of Latin, where it was the usual spelling of the name borne by Saint Luke, the evangelist traditionally credited with the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. In Greek he was Loukas, and that is where the debate about the meaning begins.

Behind the Name treats Loukas as probably a shortened Loukanos, 'someone from Lucania', an ancient region in the south of Italy. Wiktionary weighs the evidence the other way round: it describes Loukas first as an affectionate form of the Roman name Lucius, which is usually derived from lux, 'light', and keeps Loukanos as an alternative or a joint source. So the popular gloss 'light' has some basis, but it rests on one of two plausible theories rather than settled fact.

Behind the Name notes that Lucas and the English form Luke have both been used in England since the Middle Ages, and that both grew far more common towards the end of the twentieth century. In British English Lucas is said LOO-kuhs. On the Continent the name shifts shape and sound: Luc and Louka in France, Luca in Italy, Lukas in Germany and Scandinavia, Lukáš in the Czech Republic.

With two soft syllables, Lucas sits well before a firmer or longer middle name, for instance Lucas Edward, Lucas Benjamin or Lucas Henry. Brothers called Theo, Oliver or Felix share its easy, international feel, and sisters such as Isla, Rose or Eleanor round out a family nicely.