Luna (name)

For other uses, see Luna.
Luna
The Moon, a 1902 Art Nouveau illustration by Alfons Mucha. The word lūna, which means Moon in Latin, is the origin of the given name Luna.
Pronunciation/ˈluːnə/[1]
GenderFemale
Origin
Word/nameLatin
MeaningMoon
Region of originItaly[2]
Other names
Alternative spellingLatin: Lūna
Variant form(s)Louna, Luneth, Lunetta, Lunette, Lunneta,[1] Lunara, Loona
DerivedMoon
Related namesAltalune,[3] Runa

Luna is a feminine given name of Latin origin, meaning moon. In Roman mythology, Luna was the divine personification of the Moon.

Usage

It first entered the top 1,000 most popular names for girls list in the United States in 2003, has ranked among the top 20 names there since 2019 and was the 10th most popular name for American girls born in 2022.[4] It is also well used in other countries. It ranked among the top 100 names for girls in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Indonesian, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, among others, in recent years.[5][6] In 2022, it was the 31st most popular name given to girls in Canada.[7] The name's popularity has been attributed to its use in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series,[8] as well as its usage by celebrities.[9] Names beginning with or containing the letter L have also been particularly fashionable for girls.[10]

It is also found as a surname, sometimes with a prefix, for example, de Luna or Deluna. The similar sounding Runa has been used in at least one instance as a non-standard pronunciation in Japan for the kanji 月, meaning moon. Other standard pronunciations for the kanji include Tsuki and Getsu, while non-standard pronunciations include Oto, Su, Zuki and Mori.[11]

People with this name

Given name

Surname

Fictional characters

See also

  • Luna (goddess), the ancient Roman divine personification of the Moon
  • The Moon, Earth's only natural satellite, known as Luna in Latin and other languages

References

  1. ^ a b www.thinkbabynames.com (2010). "Meaning of the name Luna". Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  2. ^ "Origin and meaning of the name Luna". www.babynames.com. 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  3. ^ "Altalune - Baby Name Meaning, Origin, and Popularity".
  4. ^ "Popular Baby Names".
  5. ^ "Popularity for the name Luna - Behind the Name".
  6. ^ Crockett, Moya (19 October 2021). "'Sometimes you're not making a good choice': Unpacking our cultural obsession with baby names". Independent.co.uk. The Independent (London). Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Table 17-10-0147-01 First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators (Number)". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
  8. ^ Gamerman, Ellen (29 December 2021). "Harry Potter and the Children Whose Parents Named Them After Wizards". The Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  9. ^ Marcoux, Heather (29 July 2021). "6 celebrity baby names that started a trend, from Luna to Brooklyn". insider.com. Insider. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  10. ^ Williams, Alex (12 June 2021). "Lilith, Lilibet … Lucifer? How Baby Names Went to 'L': Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are hardly the only new parents gravitating toward quirk, family tradition and "L" names". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  11. ^ Ha, Thu-Huong (7 January 2023). "Across Japan, baby names are getting more creative". japantimes.co.jp. The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 January 2023.