Lucas
A surname from the given name Luke, ultimately linked to the evangelist and the Latin name Lucas.
The #286 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 2,867 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lucas is the medieval and early modern surname form of the personal name Luke, from Latin Lucas and Greek Loukas. In this context it is usually understood as a patronymic surname, meaning it originally identified someone as "son of Luke" or as belonging to a Luke family line. The deeper root of Luke is often connected with the ancient region of Lucania in southern Italy, though surname use developed from the Christian given name rather than directly from the place name.
History
Historical sources show Lucas as a well-established surname in England by the 13th century, and it remained widespread in Britain and later in the English-speaking world. One 19th-century source notes it as an unusually un-anglicized family name derived from Luke, while later surname dictionaries link it with regional forms and related spellings such as Lukis and Lucey. It is now common internationally, especially in countries shaped by English, French, and Spanish naming traditions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century heraldic source reportedly assigned more coats of arms to Lucas than to the anglicized form Luke.
From the historical record
“Lucker, in Northumberland. LUCAS. Gr. and Lat. Luke. Why the name of this evangelist should have become a family name in its original form, while the other three are only so in their angli- cised shape, is not apparent. The Encycl. Herald, assigns eleven diflerent coats to Lucas, but only one to Luke. LUCCOCK. See…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom