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Summary
- No one in the Bible is named Lucy or Lucia. The name is Latin and means “light,” from lux.
- Lucia is the feminine of Lucius, and a Lucius appears in the New Testament: Lucius of Cyrene, a teacher at Antioch (Acts 13:1), and a Lucius who sends greetings in Romans 16:21.
- Lucy has no Hebrew meaning. The Hebrew word for light is or, as in Genesis 1:3, and the Hebrew name Uri means “my light.”
- Lucy is not short for Lucifer. The two share the root lux, but Lucifer is a Latin word for the morning star, used in Isaiah 14:12 in the Vulgate and the King James Version.
- The name spread through devotion to Saint Lucy of Syracuse, martyred about 304, whose feast on 13 December is kept as a festival of light.
- In 2025 Lucy ranked 24th among girls’ names in the United States, its highest place since records began in 1880.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Behind the Name, “Lucy,” “Lucia,” “Lucius,” “Lucilla,” “Lucille,” “Lucifer” and “Uri,” with United States popularity figures from Social Security Administration data. https://www.behindthename.com/name/lucy
- Online Etymology Dictionary, “Lucy.” https://www.etymonline.com/word/Lucy
- James Bridge, “St. Lucy,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 9 (New York: Robert Appleton, 1910). https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09414a.htm
- “Lucy of Syracuse” and “Saint Lucy’s Day,” Wikipedia, on her iconography, the Roman Canon, the Julian calendar and Scandinavian observance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy
- “Lucy Pevensie,” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Pevensie
- Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon, H216 (or) and H1966 (hêlēl), Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1966/kjv/wlc/0-1/
- Scripture quotations from the New International Version (Genesis 1:3; Matthew 5:14; John 8:12; Revelation 21:23), the King James Version (Isaiah 14:12) and the Latin Vulgate (Isaiah 14:12; 2 Peter 1:19). References: Exodus 31:1–7; Isaiah 14:4; Acts 13:1; Romans 16:21.
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