Luca History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Italy
Spain

The distinguished surname Luca can be traced back to the ancient and beautiful region of Sicily, which is located off Southwestern Italy and incorporates the island of Sicily itself, the area of Naples, and the southern part of the Italian peninsula. Although people were originally known only by a single name, it became necessary for people to adopt a second name to identify themselves as populations grew and travel became more frequent. The process of adopting fixed hereditary surnames was not complete until the modern era, but the use of hereditary family names in Italy began in the 10th and 11th centuries. Italian hereditary surnames were developed according to fairly general principles and they were characterized by a profusion of derivatives coined from given names. The most common type of family name found in the region of Sicily is the patronymic surname, which is derived from the father's given name. During the Middle Ages, Italians adopted the patronymic system of name-making because it perfectly complemented the prevailing Feudal System. In Italy the popularity of patronymic type of surname is also due to the fact that during the Christian era, people often named their children after saints and biblical figures. The surname Luca was derived from the Latin given name Lucas, which was also a form of the Greek name Loucas. During the Middle Ages, the name became popular due to St. Luke the Evangelist.

Early Origins of the Luca family

The surname Luca was first found in Barletta when Ludivico Luca was governor in 1340.

Early History of the Luca family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Luca research. The years 1417 and 1445 are included under the topic Early Luca History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Luca Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: DeLuca, Luca, Lucantoni, Lucarelli, Lucariello, Lucarini, Lucas, Lucatti, Lucattini, Lucca, Luccarini, Lucchelli, Lucchetta, Lucchetti, Lucchi, Lucchini, Lucco, Luchelli, Luchetta, Luchetti, Luchi, Luchini and many more.

Early Notables of the Luca family

By the end of the 15th century, southern Italy was known as the Kingdom of Naples, ruled by the house of Aragon. By the early eighteenth century, the Austrians had gained much of the region, under the rule of the Austrian emperor Kales VI. However, in 1734, Spaniard Don Carlos defeated the Austrians, and the region came under Spanish rule once more. In 1799, the French invaded Naples and in 1806, Napoleon's brother Joseph was made king, but this hold on Italy was not to last. In 1813 the Congress Of Vienna restored pre-Napoleonic rule. Among prominent bearers of this surname in early times were:

Luca di Borgio, a mathematician at Borgo, born in 1445
Luca da Perugia, a painter who decorated the church of St. Petronio in Bologna in 1417

Luca migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Luca Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Pedro Luis Luca, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1816 1
Mr. J. Luca, (b. 1821), aged 27, Cornish mechanic departing from Penzance aboard the ship "Mountaineer" arriving in the United States on 29th May 1848 2
Miguel Luca, who arrived in Columbia in 1888 1
Anna Luca, aged 24, who landed in America, in 1892

Luca Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Anna Luca, aged 3, who settled in America from Saponara, in 1906
Andrea Luca, aged 20, who immigrated to the United States from S Gregono, Italy, in 1907
Angela Luca, aged 20, who landed in America from Gesso, Italy, in 1911
Agata Luca, aged 6, who settled in America from Catania, Sicily, in 1911
Alberto Luca, aged 40, who landed in America from Gualtieri, Italy, in 1911
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Luca (post 1700) +

Michael De Luca, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1940 3
Mimika Luca (1937-2023), Albanian actress and dancer
Gian Luca Mazzella, Italian wine critic, journalist and documentarian
Luca Abadelli, Italian competitor in the 4x100m relay at the Italian junior athletics championships 2023
Luca Ghiotto (b. 1995), Italian racing driver at the 2024 European Le Mans Series for Inter Europol Competition
Luca Marini (b. 1997), Italian motorcycle racer
Luca Brecel (b. 1995), Belgian professional snooker player, four-time ranking event winner, World Snooker Champion in 2023
Luca Serianni (1947-2022), Italian linguist and philologist
Luca Caracciolo, Italian researcher with the Department of Geology FAU-Erlangen-Nuremberg
Luca Turin (b. 1953), Lebanese biophysicist and writer with a long-standing interest in bioelectronics, the sense of smell, perfumery, and the fragrance industry

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, April 30). Emigrants to New York 1820 - 1891 [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_new_york_1820_1891.pdf
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 22) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html