Lucy

What Lucy means

Means “light”

From Middle English Lucy, from Old French Lucie (notably after the Christian martyr Lucia of Syracuse), from Latin Lucia (feminine of Lucius, a Roman praenomen), from lux (“light”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Lucy” (revision 94541266), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Lucy?

US: Rising: up from #55 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #32 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1881, when 611 girls got the name (#44 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 260 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 732 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 179 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DC (15.35 per 1,000 girls), MT (14.51 per 1,000 girls), NH (13.43 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Lucy is #24 in the US and #143 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9% of US babies named Lucy were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Lacey370 US · 83 E&W
• Lacy67 US · 4 E&W
• Luci59 US
• Laci26 US
• Lucee8 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Lucy

Girls

• Liliana#78Form of Lilian, possibly meaning “lily”^*
• Stella#52“star”^*
• Valentina#35Same root as Valentine, meaning “strong, healthy”^*
• Lucille#237Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1920, with 7,989 babies; 1,314 in 2025
• Clara#63“bright, shining, clear”^*
• Arabella#213Editor’s note Steady in the US: #194 in 2015 and #213 in 2025

For a brother

• Atticus#281“the Attic, the Athenian, a cognomen”^*
• Lucian#462Editor’s note Up from #633 in 2015 to #462 in 2025 in the US
• Lucas#10Editor’s note Up from #16 in 2015 to #10 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 170 US boys in the 2025 records
• Titus#358“honorable”^*
• Julian#25“Roman personal name”^*
• Cassius#582Editor’s note Up from #644 in 2015 to #582 in 2025 in the US

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Lucy’s. Rank is US 2025.