Lucian

Where Lucian comes from

From Latin Lūcianus, either a derivative of the Roman praenomen Lūcius, from lūx (“light”); or from Ancient Greek Λουκιανός (Loukianós), of obscure meaning.
— Wiktionary's entry for Lucian
  • Latin
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 120
    Lucian of Samosata born
    2nd-century Syrian satirist and rhetorician
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #403 among boys — 18 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1881
    Peak, #289
    30 babies named Lucian — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1891
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #700.
  5. 1922
    Lucian Freud born
    British painter and agravar
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Latin, rare in the English-speaking world.
Namesakes
  • Lucian of Samosata · 2nd-century Syrian satirist and rhetorician, 120–200
  • Lucian Freud · British painter and agravar, 1922–2011
  • Lucian Blaga · Romanian writer, 1895–1961
  • Lucian Mureșan · Romanian Greek Catholic cardinal, 1931–2025
  • Lucian of Antioch · Christian martyr, presbyter and theologian, 240–312

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.