Where the Lucente surname comes from
Lucente comes from the Latin lucens, “giving off light.” In the Middle Ages it was also a personal name, given to boys and girls as a good wish. Then there is a second road: some places are called Lucente, and a few families may have taken the surname from the place they came from.
Whether it comes from a name or a place, the starting word is always light. Most likely the surname was born more than once, in different places.
A light from the 1400s
The name appears on a tombstone from 1487, in Isernia. A count, adviser to the King of Naples, had a few words carved there for a woman named Lucente. The PDF tells who she was, and what the stone says about her, along with the story of a mayor, a tailor’s son, who brought light to the streets of his city.
Where the Lucentes live today
Lucente is a southern surname. In Italy there are about 630 families. The region where it is most common is Calabria, above all the province of Crotone; right after come Apulia, Lazio and Abruzzo. The town where it is strongest is tiny: Castelguidone, in the province of Chieti, where it is the eighth most common surname. In the 1900s many families moved north, and today more than half of the Lucentes live outside Italy. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world where they settled are in the PDF.
Variants
Alongside Lucente there is a plural form, concentrated in other regions. The PDF explains where it comes from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Lucente | Calabria, Apulia, Lazio |
| Lucenti | Sicily, Emilia-Romagna, Campania |
FAQ
What does the surname Lucente mean?
It comes from the Latin lucens, “giving off light.” In the Middle Ages it was a personal name given as a good wish; in some cases the surname may come from a place called Lucente.
Is Lucente a surname from Calabria or from Apulia?
Both. The region where it is most common is Calabria, above all the province of Crotone, and right after comes Apulia. The town where the surname is strongest, though, is in Abruzzo: Castelguidone, in the province of Chieti.
Are Lucente and Lucenti the same surname?
They come from the same word, light. Lucenti is the form ending in “i” and is concentrated in other regions. In the archives the same family can appear in both forms, so it is worth searching for both.
Are all Lucentes related?
No. A surname born from a personal name or a place may have been born more than once, in different places. To trace your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Lucente surname noble?
The surname itself does not mean nobility. It comes from an auspicious name or from a place, and most Lucente families never had a coat of arms.
Is there a Lucente family coat of arms?
There is no coat of arms that belongs to every Lucente. A coat of arms belonged to one specific branch of a family, in a specific place and time. It did not pass to everyone who bore the same surname.
Is there a town called Lucente?
Yes, a few places bear this name: one in Salento, near Caprarica di Lecce, and one in the Modena area. Some families may have taken the surname from there.
