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Lucian

#462 in 2025Boys' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Lucian has been given to 14,501 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #462 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 670 recorded.

Babies named Lucian, 2025

1 in 4,950

Lucian over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Lucian: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Latin

What Lucian means

Lucian has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: “light”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Latin Lūcianus, either a derivative of the Roman praenomen Lūcius, from lūx (“light”); or from Ancient Greek Λουκιανός (Loukianós), of obscure meaning.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Lucian (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Lucian is used in English and Romanian. Its origins include Latin.

Lucian comes through Latin Lūcianus and Ancient Greek Λουκιανός.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Lucian is pronounced /ˈluː.sɪən/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 14,469 boys were recorded with the name Lucian between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 670 in 2025; its best national rank was #292 in 1881.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #636 in 2020 to #462 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #633 in 2015 to #462 in 2025.

In the United States, 32 girls were recorded with the name Lucian between 1924 and 2014. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1975; its best national rank was #4,989 in 1929.

How common is Lucian?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 4,950
670 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 2,550
0.04% of boys
Rank, 2025
#462
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
3,431 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Lucian sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 1002%
School of 50010%

Put another way: gather 3,431 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Lucian. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Lucians were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Lucian was born before 2010 — so the typical Lucian is around 15 today.

Median birth year
2010
About 15 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
29.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
65.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
11,165
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 29.4% of all recorded uses (4,249).

Is Lucian rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+25
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+174
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+171
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.59×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (670)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
10.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#292
1881

Spellings of Lucian

Lucian is not the most common spelling — Lucas is, with 44.0% against Lucian's 1.9%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Lucian is used

Across 2016–2025, Lucian was most concentrated in Oregon — about 1 in 1,639 boys, against 1 in 3,265 across all states with data. It was least common in South Carolina (1 in 7,143).

1461 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Oregon1 in 1,639
  2. 2Indiana1 in 2,222
  3. 3Minnesota1 in 2,381
  4. 4Michigan1 in 2,439
  5. 5Washington1 in 2,439
  6. 6Connecticut1 in 2,500
  7. 7Kentucky1 in 2,500
  8. 8Arizona1 in 2,564

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Lucian is used remarkably evenly across the country — more concentrated than 5% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Lucian around the world

Where Lucian ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #452
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2014–2025
    #560
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2023–2023
    #312
    in 2023
  • Ireland
    2013–2025
    #829
    in 2025
  • France
    1999–2025
    #1,212
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2004–2024
    #679
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1951–2013
    #754
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Lucian

People whose public names include Lucian, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Lucian in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Lucian. Linked forms have their own page here.

LucienLukyanLluciàLucjanLusian

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Lucian by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#462
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 174
Best rank ever
#292
1881
Peak year
2025
670 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
14,469
Count in 2025
670

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,989
1929
Peak year
1975
6 that year
First recorded
1924
Last recorded
2014
All-time count
32
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Lucian

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

LuciusLucienLucianoLuccaDarianLucioDorianLuciousDavianElianKillianLuckyFabianKylianArianKianLucusJavianFavianKilianVivianZavianKristianDemian

Names with a curve like Lucian

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Lucian, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

LawsonLaytonHezekiahEdisonBensonValentinoEmmittEmersonRomeoPorterMillerCarmelo

Sibling names for Lucian

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Lucian

Top names of 2025, Lucian's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1881More old man namesBoys' names starting with LGothic NamesRomanian Boy NamesSoft Boy Names