Where the De Luca surname comes from
De Luca is a patronymic surname: it means “son of Luca.” Medieval records wrote “Antonio de Luca,” meaning Antonio son of Luca, and that “de Luca” stayed with the family. The name comes from the Greek Loukás: perhaps “man from Lucania,” perhaps a name linked to light. It spread widely in the Middle Ages thanks to devotion to Saint Luke the Evangelist.
The cardinal of Venosa
In the 1600s a De Luca born in Basilicata became one of the greatest jurists of his time, and then a cardinal in Rome. He had an idea that seemed revolutionary back then and that we take for granted today. The PDF tells what it was, and who the other cardinal De Luca was.
Where the De Lucas live today
De Luca is a surname of the South and the Center-South. By estimates, there are about 21,000 families in Italy. Its heart is Campania, home to more than one De Luca in four; next come Lazio and Calabria. In Campania, Calabria and Abruzzo it’s among the top ten surnames. In the United States almost everyone writes it as one word: DeLuca. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached are in the PDF.
Variants
In the South the same name gave De Luca and Di Luca; in the Center, forms with a diminutive in place of the preposition. The PDF explains where each one comes from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| De Luca | Campania, Lazio, Calabria |
| Lucarelli | Lazio, Tuscany, Marche |
| Luchetti | Marche, Lazio, Umbria |
FAQ
What does the surname De Luca mean?
“Son of Luca.” Luca comes from the Greek Loukás: perhaps “man from Lucania,” perhaps a name linked to “light.” It spread thanks to devotion to Saint Luke the Evangelist.
Is De Luca a surname from Campania?
Mostly. More than one De Luca in four lives in Campania, but the surname is also strong in Lazio and Calabria. By estimates, it’s among the top ten surnames of Campania, Calabria and Abruzzo.
Are De Luca, Di Luca and Deluca the same surname?
Yes, they all come from the name Luca. Until the 1800s the surname was written by whoever kept the register. The same family can appear as two words, as one, or with Di instead of De.
Are all De Lucas related?
No. In hundreds of towns there was a Luca who passed his name to his children, and two De Luca families can have very different stories. To trace your own you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the De Luca surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t indicate nobility: it comes from a personal name. Several De Luca families were noble in southern cities, but they were specific branches.
Is there a De Luca family coat of arms?
The noble De Luca families each had their own coat of arms. No single coat of arms belongs to every De Luca, and most families never had one.
