Is Lucille in the Bible? No, It Comes from the Latin Word for Light

No one named Lucille appears in the Bible. Lucille is the French form of Lucilla, a Roman name that was a diminutive of Lucia. Lucia is the feminine of Lucius, and all of these names come from the Latin lux, “light.” Lucius, the masculine form, appears twice in the New Testament.

Is Lucille a biblical name?

No. Lucille, Lucile and Lucilla do not occur in the Bible, in the original Hebrew and Greek or in translation. The names are Latin, and Lucille has no Hebrew origin or Hebrew meaning.

The nearest name in Scripture is Lucius, the masculine form. Acts lists “Lucius of Cyrene” among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1), and Paul passes on greetings from a Lucius at the end of his letter to the Romans (Romans 16:21). Scripture names neither man anywhere else.

What does Lucille mean?

Lucille means “light” by way of its Latin root. Lucius was the most common Roman given name, and Behind the Name derives it from lux, “light.” Lucia is its feminine, and Lucilla is a diminutive of Lucia. Read strictly, Lucilla means “little Lucia,” which is why Lucille is often explained as “little light.”

Lucille is sometimes said to mean “light-bearer.” That meaning belongs to Lucifer, a separate Latin word made from lux and ferre, “to carry,” and it is not the origin of Lucille.

Lucile or Lucille?

Both spellings are French, and both are used in English. In France the single-l Lucile is the more common: it reached 68th among French girls’ names in 1990, when Lucille reached 155th. In the United States Lucille is the usual spelling. It was among the 50 most popular names for American girls from 1905 to 1927, and peaked at 27th in 1919. It fell out of the top 1,000 after 1976, returned in 2003, and ranked 237th in 2025. A famous bearer was the American comedian Lucille Ball (1911–1989).

Is there a Saint Lucille?

Nominis, the name directory of the Catholic Church in France, lists a Saint Lucile, also spelled Lucille, a martyr at Carthage in North Africa in the fourth century, whose local feast is 16 February. It also records a Lucilla martyred at Rome around 260 with her father, the deacon Nemesius, honored on 25 August. Lucia, the name from which Lucille descends, belongs to Saint Lucy of Syracuse, a martyr of about 304, whose feast is 13 December.

Related reading

• Is Lucy in the Bible? No, It Comes from the Latin Lucia, Meaning Light
• Is Your Name in the Bible? A Directory of 231 Names