Lua
Ocean in Hawaiian language or moon in Portuguese.
Name Census estimates that about 985 living Americans carry the first name Lua. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lua today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lua births was 2023 (114 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lua. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
985
~ 1 in 347,974 Americans
Peak year
2023
114 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,998
Tracked since 1910
Popularity
Lua: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lua from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 520 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lua by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Lua during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Luas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Lua, while Colorado, New Jersey, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 42 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lua
The name Lua has its origins in the Portuguese language and is derived from the Latin word "luna," meaning "moon." This celestial reference suggests that the name may have been originally associated with lunar deities or celestial symbolism in ancient cultures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lua can be found in the medieval Portuguese epic poem "Os Lusíadas" by Luís Vaz de Camões, written in the 16th century. In this work, Lua is depicted as a mythological figure representing the moon goddess.
Throughout history, the name Lua has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded examples is Lua Getsinger (1868-1963), an American sculptor and educator who played a significant role in the development of art education in the United States.
Another important figure with the name Lua is Lua Blanco (1936-1996), a Cuban-American artist known for her vibrant abstract expressionist paintings. Her work explored themes of identity, culture, and the human condition, and she is celebrated as a prominent figure in the Latin American art scene.
In the realm of literature, Lua Mohapatra (1954-2021) was a renowned Odia poet and writer from India. Her poetic works explored themes of feminism, social justice, and the human experience, earning her numerous accolades and recognition.
Lua Getsinger (1890-1952), an American playwright and screenwriter, is also noteworthy. She co-wrote the screenplay for the 1932 film "Red Dust," starring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, and contributed to several other notable works in the early years of Hollywood.
Lua Coimbra (1935-2005) was a Brazilian singer and composer who gained widespread popularity in the 1960s and 1970s for her interpretations of traditional Brazilian music genres such as samba and bossa nova. Her influential legacy in Brazilian music endures to this day.
While the name Lua has been used across various cultures and time periods, its celestial origins and connections to the moon have remained a consistent thread, lending an air of mystique and symbolism to those who bear this name.
People
Lua + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lua as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lua: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lua?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 985 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lua going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 347,974 US residents.
Is Lua a common name?
We classify Lua as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 998 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lua most popular?
The single biggest year for Lua was 2023, when 114 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lua is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lua a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lua in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.