Gianluca
Derived from the Italian names Giovanni (John) and Luca (Luke), meaning "God is gracious" and "light-giver".
Name Census estimates that about 3,696 living Americans carry the first name Gianluca. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gianluca today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gianluca births was 2017 (207 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gianluca. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Gianluca with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Gianluca is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.7K
~ 1 in 92,737 Americans
Peak year
2017
207 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,249
Tracked since 1971
Census
Gianluca in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,050 people with the first name Gianluca, which placed it at #5,573 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,573
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
3,050 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gianluca
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gianluca is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (37.6%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Gianluca described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Gianluca at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.7% · 1,790
- Hispanic or Latino37.6% · 1,146
- Two or more races2.7% · 83
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 16
- Black or African American0.4% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Gianluca: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gianluca from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,523 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Gianluca remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gianluca by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Gianluca during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gianlucas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. New York, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Gianluca, while Missouri, Michigan, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 142 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gianluca
Gianluca is a male given name of Italian origin, derived from the combination of two names: Giovanni and Luca. The name Giovanni is the Italian form of John, which comes from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "Yahweh is gracious." Luca, on the other hand, is the Italian form of the name Luke, which originates from the Latin name Lucas, derived from the Greek word "leukos," meaning "bright" or "white."
The name Gianluca first emerged in Italy during the Renaissance period, when the combination of two separate names became a popular practice among the Italian nobility and educated classes. This trend was influenced by the humanist movement, which emphasized the study of classical Greek and Roman literature, art, and philosophy.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gianluca can be found in the writings of the Italian Renaissance philosopher and writer, Gianluca Pacioli (1446-1517). Pacioli is widely regarded as the "Father of Accounting" for his pioneering work on double-entry bookkeeping and his contributions to the fields of mathematics and geometry.
Another notable figure who bore the name Gianluca was the Italian painter and architect, Gianluca Valvassori (1561-1634). Valvassori was a prominent figure in the Mannerist art movement and is known for his intricate fresco paintings in various churches and palaces throughout Italy.
During the 17th century, the name Gianluca gained popularity among the Italian nobility and aristocracy. One notable bearer of the name was Gianluca Biccari (1633-1681), an Italian composer and organist who served as the Kapellmeister at the court of the Archduke of Austria in Innsbruck.
In the 19th century, the name Gianluca was associated with Italian patriotism and the Risorgimento movement, which aimed to unify the various states of the Italian peninsula into a single nation. One prominent figure from this period was Gianluca Passerini (1844-1920), an Italian historian and politician who served as a member of the Italian parliament and played a significant role in the preservation of Italian cultural heritage.
Another notable bearer of the name Gianluca was the Italian novelist and playwright, Gianluca Scepi (1886-1952). Scepi was a prolific writer who explored themes of social injustice and the struggles of the working class in his works, which were heavily influenced by the ideals of the Italian socialist movement.
Throughout its history, the name Gianluca has been a popular choice among Italian families, reflecting the rich cultural heritage and literary traditions of the country. While it may have originated as a name associated with the upper classes and nobility, Gianluca has become a widely recognized and respected name across all segments of Italian society.
People
Gianluca + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gianluca as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gianluca: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gianluca?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,696 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gianluca going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 92,737 US residents.
Is Gianluca a common name?
We classify Gianluca as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,734 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gianluca most popular?
The single biggest year for Gianluca was 2017, when 207 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gianluca is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gianluca in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,050 people with the name Gianluca, or 1.01 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,573 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Gianluca in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Gianluca?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gianluca appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,050 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Gianluca?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gianluca is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (37.6%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Gianluca most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gianluca in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.7% (1,790 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Gianluca in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gianluca a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gianluca in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Gianluca still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gianluca in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Gianluca can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Gianluca?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.