Skip to main content

Lucan

lucan
Knights of the Round Table


Lucan (LUU-kahn) is a boy's baby name from Arthurian legend. Sir Lucan was a Knight of the Round Table, son of Duke Corneus, brother of Sir Bedivere and cousin of Sir Griflet. He was in charge of the royal court as part of his duties in Camelot. In these stories, Lucan stays by Arthur's side until the very end of their lives, and he was consider endlessly loyal and reliable. Ironically, Arthur Lucan was an English actor (1885 - 1954).

Another namesake was known as Lucan in English, but his full name was Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, grandson of Seneca the Elder. In Latin, Lucan is simply a version of Luke and Lucas, from the Roman cognomen Lucanus. Lucanus means "from Lucania," an ancient Roman city, the name of which derived from Greek loukas, meaning "white," cognate with the Latin word lux, meaning "light." Lucania itself has been used a few times as a girl's baby name, as have the personal names Lucano and Lucana. These names are, of course, related to Lucius, Lucian, Lucia, Luciana, Luca, Luce, Lucy, Lucille, Lucinda, Luzia, Luken and Lucio.

The Earl of Lucan is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. Lucan is also a town in Dublin. There was also a TV series and a movie, both titled "Lucan."

Lucan is a very rare name, only given to 15 boys in 2016, which is a slightly lower amount than the previous few years, but a normal amount in all. It's only been used since about 1977 in the U.S. Lucanus was used in 1977 as well, but never seen again. Lucas took off just before 1980 and sits pretty at #14 right now, while Luca is #151 for boys and Lucca #683. Lucia is extremely popular as well at #213, and Lucille is #284, while Luciana is a modest #434. Lux, Lucien, Lucana, Lucano, Luzia, Luken, Lucio, Lucinda, Lucius and Luce do not rank or have not in decades. Luciano is #512, Lucian #626.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galician Baby Names

I grew up on a street that was named an Italian variant of Roger. When I got married and we bought our first house, it turned out to be on Roger Street. Once noting that coincidence, I started searching for other variants of the name. However, female variants turned out to be pretty nonexistent. Save for Roxeria, which I later discovered was the Galician female form, possibly pronounced rohz-AIR-ee-uh. That led me to a few lists of female Galician names, ranging from common to rare. Here is a sampling of names not often heard here in the states... Albina Alda Alma Alodia Aloia Amada Amadora Amalia Amparo Anisia Antia Araceli Aranzazu Artemisa Avelina Azucena Baia Balbina Baltasara Beatriz Benvida Berenice Bieita Branca Braulia Caetana Carola Casilda Casimira Ceferina Celsa Cipriana Cira Clorinda Coralia Cornelia Cosima Davinia Delfina Desideria Dionisia Dominga Dorinda Dorotea Dositea Edelmira Edenia Elba Elvira Emiliana Etelvina ...
2 comments
Read more

Elowen

Elowen is a recent Cornish baby name meaning "elm." It may not take off in America like the last Cornish hit, Jennifer, but it's certainly pretty. She's part of a "linguistic revival," as Appellation Mountain puts it  here . Her nickname could be Ellie, Elle or Ella, or a more unusual choice, Wendy. The pronunciation of Elowen is "ell-LOH-en," though most Americans will probably stick with "ELL-oh-wen." Please note that it is not spelled Elowyn. There is a similar name, Eowyn, but if you spell it Elowyn it will no longer be the Cornish name meaning elm tree, just some creative name. Other great Cornish names include Penrose, Chesten (the Cornish form of Christine), Demelza, Denzel, Hammitt, Kerensa/Kerenza, Meraud (very similar to French gem name Emeraude, both meaning emerald, but Meraud is pronounced "meh-row"), Merryn, Morwenna, Tremain, Emblyn, Jory, Massen, Treeve and Cotton. Here's 's a link to a post on Cornish n...
2 comments
Read more

Ancient Germanic Female Deities

Loki and Idun by John Bauer Here is a list of ancient Germanic goddess and personifications. There is some overlap with the goddesses of the Norse pantheon, and I've limited it to those names that I think would wear well today on modern babies. Of the following names, only the following were used in 2016. Sol was given to 91 girls, Ran to 5 girls, Saga to 9 girls, and Beyla to 6 girls. Beyla - as a possible agricultural personification, her name could mean "cow," "bean," or "bee," but she has been associated with bees and mead, so my guess is "bee." However, there's been a proposed connection to the reconstructed Proto-Norse name Baunila, which means "little bean." This is also a Spanish and Italian girls name. Fulla - possibly means "bountiful." Her other name is Volla, which I think is equally accessible as a name. She is a virgin goddess in Old Norse mythology. Gersemi - means "treasure." Sh...
Post a Comment
Read more