2000
#275
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 100,417
First available Census row
Per 100,000 37.22
Common Last name
Lucas
An English surname derived from the Greek name Loukas, meaning "man from Lucania," a region in southern Italy.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 118,054 Americans carry the last name Lucas. That puts it at #299 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 34.44 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,903 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lucas surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Lucas with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
118K
1 in 2,903
Census rank
#299
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
34.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
103K
common in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 102,949 bearers of the surname Lucas in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 34.44 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 299th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lucas, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and Hispanic (9.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lucas
The surname LUCAS is of Spanish and Italian origin, derived from the Latin personal name Lucas, which itself is derived from the Greek name Loukas, meaning "from Lucania" - an ancient region in southern Italy. The name LUCAS first emerged in the 9th century and was initially concentrated in Spain and Italy.
During the Middle Ages, the name LUCAS appeared in various records across Europe, such as the Domesday Book of 1086, which listed several individuals with the surname in England. One notable early bearer was Lucas de Penne, a Norman nobleman who fought alongside William the Conqueror in the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
In the 13th century, the surname LUCAS was found in various forms, including Luca, Lucca, and Lucaz, reflecting regional spelling variations. One of the earliest recorded individuals was Giovanni di Luca, an Italian painter and architect from Siena, who lived from around 1238 to 1348.
Over the centuries, the name LUCAS has been associated with several notable figures. In the 16th century, there was Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553), a German Renaissance painter known for his portraits of Martin Luther and other Reformation leaders. Another prominent bearer was Sir Samuel Lucas (1585-1670), an English military officer and politician who fought in the English Civil War.
In the 18th century, Robert Lucas (1781-1853) was a prominent American politician and territorial governor of Ohio and Iowa. In the 19th century, George Lucas (1824-1909) was an English novelist and playwright, best known for his novel "The Flitters, Tatters, and the Counsellor."
One of the most famous bearers of the name LUCAS in modern times is George Lucas (born 1944), the American filmmaker and creator of the Star Wars franchise. Other notable individuals include Elijah Lucas (1590-1675), a British colonist and governor of the British West Indies, and Juan Lucas (1888-1953), a Spanish painter known for his landscapes and portraits.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lucas
Among Census respondents with the surname Lucas, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and Hispanic (9.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Lucas bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Lucas surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.8% · 67,779
- Black or African American18.1% · 18,673
- Hispanic or Latino9.6% · 9,920
- Two or more races4.0% · 4,154
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 1,865
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 558
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lucas
Lucas appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#286
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 107,690
+7,273 bearers (+7.2%)
Per 100,000 36.51
Rank movement Down 11 places
2020
#299
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102,949
-4,741 bearers (-4.4%)
Per 100,000 34.44
Rank movement Down 13 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #275 | 100,417 | 37.22 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #286 | 107,690 | 36.51 | +7,273 bearers (+7.2%) | Down 11 places |
| 2020 | #299 | 102,949 | 34.44 | -4,741 bearers (-4.4%) | Down 13 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Lucas surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #286 | #299 | -4.5% |
| Count | 107,690 | 102,949 | -4.4% |
| Per 100K | 36.51 | 34.44 | -5.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lucas bearers went from 107,690 to 102,949 (-4.4% change). The surname moved down 13 positions in the national ranking, going from #286 to #299.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Lucas
FAQ
Lucas surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lucas?
Name Census estimates that about 118,054 living Americans carry the surname Lucas. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,903 residents.
How common is Lucas?
Lucas ranks #299 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Common." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 34.44 per 100,000 residents, which is about 34 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 102,949 people with the surname Lucas. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (118,054), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 34.44 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 34.44 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 34 of them to have the surname Lucas.
Has Lucas become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lucas went from 107,690 recorded bearers to 102,949. That is a decrease of 4,741 (-4.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #286 to #299.
What does the Census say about the background of Lucas?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lucas, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and Hispanic (9.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Lucas in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.8% (67,779 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lucas appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (65.8%), Black (18.1%), Hispanic (9.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Lucas (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Lucas mean?
An English surname derived from the Greek name Loukas, meaning "man from Lucania," a region in southern Italy. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Lucas (34.44 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Lucas?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.