NameCensus.

UK girl's name

Lua

Ocean in Hawaiian language or moon in Portuguese.

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Lua is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Lua popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1672, with 18 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2023, with 19 births.

This profile covers 147 England and Wales registrations across 15 recorded years from 2007 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 95% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 156 living people in the UK are called Lua. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Lua ranked #1672 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 18 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 2023, when 19 girls were registered as Lua.
  • Lua ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #418 in 2022.
  • About 156 living people in the UK are estimated to have Lua as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#1672

2024

Births in 2024

18

Latest year

Peak year

2023

19 births

Estimated living

156

2026

Meaning

What does Lua mean?

The name Lua has its origins in the Portuguese language and is derived from the Latin word "luna," meaning "moon." This celestial reference suggests that the name may have been originally associated with lunar deities or celestial symbolism in ancient cultures.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lua can be found in the medieval Portuguese epic poem "Os Lusíadas" by Luís Vaz de Camões, written in the 16th century. In this work, Lua is depicted as a mythological figure representing the moon goddess.

Throughout history, the name Lua has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded examples is Lua Getsinger (1868-1963), an American sculptor and educator who played a significant role in the development of art education in the United States.

Another important figure with the name Lua is Lua Blanco (1936-1996), a Cuban-American artist known for her vibrant abstract expressionist paintings. Her work explored themes of identity, culture, and the human condition, and she is celebrated as a prominent figure in the Latin American art scene.

In the realm of literature, Lua Mohapatra (1954-2021) was a renowned Odia poet and writer from India. Her poetic works explored themes of feminism, social justice, and the human experience, earning her numerous accolades and recognition.

Lua Getsinger (1890-1952), an American playwright and screenwriter, is also noteworthy. She co-wrote the screenplay for the 1932 film "Red Dust," starring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, and contributed to several other notable works in the early years of Hollywood.

Lua Coimbra (1935-2005) was a Brazilian singer and composer who gained widespread popularity in the 1960s and 1970s for her interpretations of traditional Brazilian music genres such as samba and bossa nova. Her influential legacy in Brazilian music endures to this day.

While the name Lua has been used across various cultures and time periods, its celestial origins and connections to the moon have remained a consistent thread, lending an air of mystique and symbolism to those who bear this name.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Lua over time

The chart below shows babies named Lua registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 2007 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Lua, the clearest high point is 2023. The latest England and Wales figure is 18 births in 2024, compared with 19 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Lua
05101419200720152024

Decades

Lua by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Lua was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #1893 77 5
2010s #3509 56 7
2000s #4502 14 3

Geography

Where Lua is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Lua. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Lua ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #418 in 2022.

Scotland
7
Northern Ireland
3

Across the UK

Lua in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#418 in 2022

1 years of NRS records, 7 total registered

Northern Ireland (NISRA)

#424 in 2019

1 years of NISRA records, 3 total registered

Related

Names similar to Lua

FAQ

Lua: questions and answers

How popular is the name Lua in the UK right now?

In 2024, Lua was ranked #1672 for girls in England and Wales, with 18 births registered.

When was Lua most popular?

The peak year on record was 2023, with 19 babies registered as Lua in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Lua?

Ocean in Hawaiian language or moon in Portuguese.

How many people are called Lua in the UK?

A total of 147 babies have been registered as Lua across the 15 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 7 more in Scotland and 3 in Northern Ireland.

Where is Lua most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Lua ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #418 in 2022. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.