Luke
Luke was given to 6,948 boys in 2025, #33 among boys’ names; 323,585 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 309,000 Americans named Luke and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (96% of everyone recorded); the median is 19 years old and half are between 10 and 28.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Luke by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Luke mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Luke is “a male given name.”
From Latin Lūcās, from Koine Greek Λουκᾶς (Loukâs).
/luk/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Luke?
#33 among boys’ names, 2025
Luke fell from #28 in 2015 to #33 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 5.4 to 4.1 per 1,000.
10,536 babies in 2014, the peak
Luke peaked in 2014, when 10,536 babies were given it (10,523 boys, #28 among boys’ names). The 6,957 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 66% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6,948 | #33 | 4.1 |
| 2024 | 7,062 | #34 | 4.1 |
| 2023 | 7,251 | #31 | 4.2 |
| 2022 | 7,393 | #34 | 4.2 |
| 2021 | 7,711 | #32 | 4.4 |
| 2020 | 7,784 | #31 | 4.5 |
| 2019 | 8,442 | #32 | 4.7 |
| 2018 | 8,624 | #30 | 4.7 |
| 2017 | 9,224 | #30 | 5.0 |
| 2016 | 10,001 | #29 | 5.3 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 10,294 | #28 | 5.4 |
| 2014 | 10,523 | #28 | 5.5 |
| 2013 | 9,588 | #34 | 5.1 |
| 2012 | 9,022 | #37 | 4.8 |
| 2011 | 8,706 | #39 | 4.6 |
| 2010 | 8,850 | #41 | 4.6 |
| 2009 | 8,625 | #47 | 4.3 |
| 2008 | 9,424 | #43 | 4.6 |
| 2007 | 9,609 | #46 | 4.6 |
| 2006 | 10,087 | #43 | 4.9 |
| 2005 | 10,011 | #41 | 5.0 |
| 2004 | 9,598 | #41 | 4.8 |
| 2003 | 9,304 | #46 | 4.7 |
| 2002 | 8,692 | #46 | 4.5 |
| 2001 | 8,008 | #50 | 4.1 |
| 2000 | 7,148 | #59 | 3.6 |
| 1999 | 6,137 | #67 | 3.2 |
| 1998 | 5,284 | #75 | 2.8 |
| 1997 | 4,953 | #78 | 2.6 |
| 1996 | 5,017 | #75 | 2.6 |
| 1995 | 4,629 | #82 | 2.4 |
| 1994 | 4,095 | #91 | 2.1 |
| 1993 | 4,357 | #87 | 2.2 |
| 1992 | 4,066 | #93 | 2.0 |
| 1991 | 3,013 | #113 | 1.5 |
| 1990 | 2,883 | #118 | 1.4 |
| 1989 | 2,712 | #121 | 1.4 |
| 1988 | 2,619 | #119 | 1.4 |
| 1987 | 2,592 | #111 | 1.4 |
| 1986 | 2,654 | #106 | 1.4 |
| 1985 | 2,741 | #106 | 1.5 |
| 1984 | 2,471 | #110 | 1.4 |
| 1983 | 2,655 | #105 | 1.5 |
| 1982 | 2,478 | #119 | 1.4 |
| 1981 | 3,013 | #100 | 1.7 |
| 1980 | 3,109 | #97 | 1.7 |
| 1979 | 2,470 | #110 | 1.4 |
| 1978 | 1,882 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1977 | 1,242 | #190 | 0.76 |
| 1976 | 913 | #223 | 0.58 |
| 1975 | 778 | #256 | 0.50 |
| 1974 | 725 | #265 | 0.46 |
| 1973 | 633 | #285 | 0.41 |
| 1972 | 575 | #319 | 0.35 |
| 1971 | 530 | #348 | 0.30 |
| 1970 | 535 | #351 | 0.29 |
| 1969 | 451 | #367 | 0.25 |
| 1968 | 387 | #396 | 0.22 |
| 1967 | 346 | #409 | 0.20 |
| 1966 | 355 | #398 | 0.20 |
| 1965 | 400 | #392 | 0.22 |
| 1964 | 445 | #374 | 0.22 |
| 1963 | 422 | #387 | 0.21 |
| 1962 | 426 | #392 | 0.21 |
| 1961 | 413 | #393 | 0.19 |
| 1960 | 426 | #384 | 0.20 |
| 1959 | 353 | #425 | 0.17 |
| 1958 | 337 | #429 | 0.16 |
| 1957 | 291 | #451 | 0.13 |
| 1956 | 245 | #485 | 0.12 |
| 1955 | 219 | #499 | 0.11 |
| 1954 | 197 | #518 | 0.10 |
| 1953 | 169 | #543 | 0.09 |
| 1952 | 158 | #556 | 0.08 |
| 1951 | 169 | #527 | 0.09 |
| 1950 | 170 | #515 | 0.09 |
| 1949 | 155 | #533 | 0.09 |
| 1948 | 155 | #532 | 0.09 |
| 1947 | 151 | #550 | 0.08 |
| 1946 | 130 | #564 | 0.08 |
| 1945 | 116 | #557 | 0.09 |
| 1944 | 118 | #562 | 0.09 |
| 1943 | 126 | #566 | 0.09 |
| 1942 | 110 | #601 | 0.08 |
| 1941 | 121 | #540 | 0.10 |
| 1940 | 116 | #548 | 0.10 |
| 1939 | 116 | #533 | 0.10 |
| 1938 | 123 | #524 | 0.11 |
| 1937 | 113 | #547 | 0.11 |
| 1936 | 116 | #532 | 0.11 |
| 1935 | 121 | #526 | 0.12 |
| 1934 | 122 | #533 | 0.12 |
| 1933 | 110 | #547 | 0.11 |
| 1932 | 165 | #438 | 0.16 |
| 1931 | 142 | #475 | 0.14 |
| 1930 | 141 | #503 | 0.13 |
| 1929 | 153 | #475 | 0.14 |
| 1928 | 149 | #496 | 0.13 |
| 1927 | 158 | #481 | 0.14 |
| 1926 | 162 | #472 | 0.15 |
| 1925 | 165 | #470 | 0.15 |
| 1924 | 206 | #425 | 0.18 |
| 1923 | 185 | #451 | 0.17 |
| 1922 | 190 | #441 | 0.17 |
| 1921 | 165 | #479 | 0.15 |
| 1920 | 166 | #472 | 0.16 |
| 1919 | 165 | #460 | 0.17 |
| 1918 | 176 | #447 | 0.17 |
| 1917 | 163 | #444 | 0.18 |
| 1916 | 183 | #412 | 0.21 |
| 1915 | 157 | #432 | 0.19 |
| 1914 | 168 | #366 | 0.26 |
| 1913 | 115 | #403 | 0.22 |
| 1912 | 83 | #429 | 0.19 |
| 1911 | 62 | #351 | 0.27 |
| 1910 | 71 | #294 | 0.37 |
| 1909 | 57 | #306 | 0.35 |
| 1908 | 52 | #304 | 0.34 |
| 1907 | 45 | #320 | 0.31 |
| 1906 | 57 | #261 | 0.43 |
| 1905 | 53 | #271 | 0.40 |
| 1904 | 40 | #317 | 0.31 |
| 1903 | 46 | #274 | 0.39 |
| 1902 | 41 | #301 | 0.33 |
| 1901 | 37 | #287 | 0.35 |
| 1900 | 70 | #243 | 0.47 |
| 1899 | 35 | #296 | 0.33 |
| 1898 | 38 | #314 | 0.31 |
| 1897 | 44 | #264 | 0.39 |
| 1896 | 45 | #274 | 0.38 |
| 1895 | 53 | #248 | 0.45 |
| 1894 | 32 | #313 | 0.28 |
| 1893 | 48 | #255 | 0.43 |
| 1892 | 42 | #282 | 0.34 |
| 1891 | 23 | #362 | 0.23 |
| 1890 | 42 | #269 | 0.38 |
| 1889 | 44 | #245 | 0.40 |
| 1888 | 45 | #268 | 0.37 |
| 1887 | 47 | #236 | 0.46 |
| 1886 | 50 | #241 | 0.45 |
| 1885 | 50 | #234 | 0.46 |
| 1884 | 39 | #275 | 0.34 |
| 1883 | 38 | #270 | 0.36 |
| 1882 | 44 | #259 | 0.39 |
| 1881 | 42 | #241 | 0.42 |
| 1880 | 43 | #256 | 0.39 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Luke a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Luke has been given almost only to boys: 565 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Luke: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Luke, and how old are they?
309,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 96% of the 323,585 Americans ever recorded as Luke. The median Luke alive today is 19 years old; half are between 10 and 28.
The 2020 Census counted 267,180 people named Luke (388 women and girls, 266,792 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 269,885 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 416 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 3,520 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 13,900 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 49,700 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 132,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 110,000 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Luke born?
The states with the most babies named Luke are Texas, California and Florida, with 29% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 815 | #30 | 0.9× |
| California | 738 | #44 | 0.8× |
| Florida | 464 | #30 | 0.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 289 | #26 | 1.3× |
| North Carolina | 285 | #20 | 1.0× |
| New York | 278 | #60 | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 247 | #36 | 1.1× |
| Georgia | 230 | #26 | 0.8× |
| Virginia | 215 | #20 | 1.0× |
| New Jersey | 197 | #37 | 0.9× |
Where Luke is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Luke is most over-represented in Minnesota: since 1910 it was given 1.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Luke with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 7 names spelled alike, given to 437,604 babies since 1880, Luke is the most given (74% of them). In 2025 it was given to 6,957 of their 19,904 babies (35%), the second most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Luke
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Luke and names like it
- Compare Luke and LucaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2010sLuke peaked in 2014.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Luke since 1910.
- The top names of 2014The year the most babies were named Luke.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Luke alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with LMost given first.