Find out how popular the last name Luc is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Luc.

Luc, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Luc surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Luc in America

Luc is the 11877th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Luc surname appeared 2,636 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Luc.

We can also compare 2010 data for Luc to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Luc

The surname Luc originated in France and can be traced back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Latin name Lucas, which means "from Lucania," a region in southern Italy. The name likely spread to other parts of Europe during the Middle Ages.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Luc appears in the cartulary of the Abbey of Saint-Père de Chartres in 1154, where a certain Robertus Luc is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction. Another early reference is found in the Pipe Rolls of Normandy from 1180, which lists a Radulfus Luc among the landowners in the region.

In England, the name Luc is thought to have been introduced by Norman settlers after the conquest of 1066. The Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, does not contain any instances of the name Luc, suggesting that it was not yet widely established in England at that time.

One of the earliest known bearers of the Luc surname in England was William Luc, a merchant from Bordeaux who settled in London in the early 13th century. Another notable figure was Sir John Luc (c. 1300-1370), a knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War and was granted lands in Kent for his service to King Edward III.

During the Renaissance, the Luc family produced several notable scholars and artists. Jean Luc (1506-1573) was a French humanist and philosopher who taught at the University of Paris and was a friend of Erasmus. His nephew, Olivier Luc (1538-1599), was a renowned painter and engraver who worked in the court of Henry IV of France.

In the 17th century, the name Luc gained prominence in the Netherlands with the birth of Jan Luc (1616-1663), a celebrated Dutch still-life painter. His son, Jan Luc the Younger (1649-1712), followed in his footsteps and became a respected artist in his own right.

Other notable bearers of the Luc surname include Louis-Joseph Luc (1757-1820), a French military officer who served under Napoleon, and Charles Luc (1848-1914), a Belgian engineer and inventor who pioneered the use of reinforced concrete in construction.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Luc

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Luc.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Luc was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Luc has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Luc was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Luc, please contact us.

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