Gluck
A German and Jewish surname from the word for “luck” or “good fortune.”
The #7,778 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 72,357 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Gluck is a surname formed from German Glück, meaning “luck,” “good fortune,” or “happiness.” In many cases it belongs to the common class of surnames taken from positive abstract words, used as nicknames or inherited family names. The same form was also adopted in Jewish communities of German-speaking Europe, often through the same German word.
History
The name is associated especially with German and Ashkenazic Jewish naming traditions. In German surname formation, words for virtues, qualities, and favorable states often became hereditary surnames during the early modern period. The surname is also familiar from the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck, which helped keep the spelling well known in Europe.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because the German letter ü is often transliterated as ue, Gluck and Glueck can represent the same original surname.
From the historical record
“Tay. The name Tava appears on Brittonic ground in the Devon Tavy and the Welsh Tawe, and there is a Welsh adjec- tive taw, signifying " quiet," " gentle," to which Gluck equates the Gaulish Tavia, Tavium, and the woman's name Tavena. Between the Tay and the Forth. Ptolemy places the river Tina or Tinna; by…”
— Etymology of the principal Gaelic national names, personal names, surnames