Name of the Day: Luz
Happy first day of winter! Today’s name is a hopeful choice for a child born in December.
Thanks to Photoquilty for (sort of) suggesting Luz as Name of the Day.
First things first – our dedicated reader actually suggested Luzanna, a name worn by a Friend of Photoquilty. There are three equally possible origins for this appellation:
- It’s a smoosh of Luz and Anna. A nearly unending list of names ends up combined with Anna – Anneliese, Annabel, Marianne, Rosanna, Carolanne, Georgeanna. Luzanna works better than some on that list;
- It’s a respelling or riff on Louisiana, in which case it is more than a bit confusing. Leelee Sobieski, I’m looking at you;
- Lastly, as with any truly unusual name, it’s always possible that I’m just plain missing the backstory.
A few dozen Luzannas pop up in US Census records. Their surnames and places of birth and residence vary wildly, suggesting that Luzanna lacks any single, definitive origin. I’ll offer a few more theories:
- Luzana is the Slovene name for the Swiss city of Lausanne, originally settled by the Romans as Lousonna;
- Handwritten census and immigration records can be difficult to decipher. At least some suggest that Luzanna was actually Suzanna or another related name;
- Anna Luz is a compound name heard with some frequency amongst Spanish speakers, and often appears in conjunction with a Latino surname.
And so let’s turn our attention to Luz.
The simplest story is that luz is Spanish for light, from the Latin lux.
There’s a spiritual angle. Another title for the Virgin Mary is Our Lady of the Light – Nuestra Señora de la Luz, María de Luz, or, in Cape Verde, Nossa Senhora da Luz. Depending on where you’re standing, the pronunciation could be loos or looth.
You’ll also find Luz in the Bible:
- It’s either an alternate name for Bethel or a neighboring town mentioned in Genesis;
- In Judges, Luz is the name of another town. Scholars suggest that it may be in the Golan Heights.
Some connect luz to an Aramaic word for almond. Aramaic predates Latin by centuries. It’s the original language of several books of the Old Testament, may have been the language spoken by Jesus and a version referred to as Imperial Aramaic was used to govern the Persian Empire.
She’s occasionally a surname, and not as rare in the first spot as you might think. Luz has charted in the US Top 1000 every year since 1950. Her best showing was #455 in 1972. Last year, more than 400 baby girls born in the US were given the name. That works out to #732, just one spot behind the equally spiritual Milagros.
If Luz has a shortcoming, it’s sharing a sound with the potentially perjorative loose. (Break out your copy of 1986′s Beastie Boys debut Licensed to Ill and listen to “She’s Crafty.” I think her name was Lucy, but the all called her …)
Which takes us back to Luzanna, Luz Anna and Anna Luz. It’s a lovely name, but perhaps better paired with another – if only for the teenage years.
Filed under: Names for Girls, Names of the Day, Nature Babes, Saints | 14 Comments
Tags: Anna, Anna Luz, Annabel, Anneliese, Carolanne, Georgeanna, Louisiana, Lucy, Luz, Luzana, Luzanna, Marianne, Milagros, Rosanna, Suzanna
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I listened to “Licensed to Ill” a lot in my final month of pregnancy with my daughter… not sure what that was about… this time it’s Christmas tunes, unsurprisingly.
Luz is a lovely name – even if it does sound like ‘loose’ (but then I like Lucy and Lucinda, too). Luzanna is not my cup of tea, but does REMIND me of tea: Luzianne tea (which I’m pretty sure is a variant of the State name). But I have nothing really to say against Luzanna, it’s just not for me.
So weird, I was thinking just a week or two ago of suggesting Luz as NOTD. My cousin is married to a Luz who goes by Lucy (They are Puerto Rican, so use the Loos prn. from what I can tell). I’ve always liked it a lot – for her at any rate. If parents of Lucy aren’t swayed by “loose” sounds, then this should stand a fairly good chance of being considered.
Luz and Luzanna are lovely. I’ll give you an example of another -anne mash-up. Way back in high school (’84-’87), I had a friend named Christianne who was an exchange student from Denmark. She pronounced her name as Chris-tee-anna.
So, Luzanna’s name is pronounced loo-ZAH-nah. She was born in Latvia, and the story goes that her mom heard the name on someone else and liked it. your Slovene explanation seems to satisfy that.
I can’t believe that this name came a DAY after I gave your ageda for not NotDing my pick! I’m hanging my head in shame.
I like Luz in theory, but don’t think it always wears well in certain parts of the US. My old friend sometimes went by Lu, but then again, her name was pronounced with the Z sound, as opposed to the S sound.
Yes, I did think that, Photoquilty.
But actually I’d held off on this one forever and ever, thinking that I’d eventually come up with a solid explanation. It sounds like there should be an old movie or novel or song or SOMETHING. But nope.
Interesting that she’s Slovene. I’ve actually been to Lausanne – I think it was a fluke that my bus went through there on the way between two other destinations. It’s gorgeous. I bought a postcard and a Swatch watch. I think I still have the postcard.
And I love the use of NotDing as a verb!
Poetic license, right?
‘zactly!
Luz IS great as part of a double name! About 25% of the people that I have known with this name go by Luz alone; most go Luz Elena, Luz Maria or Maria de la Luz, or by nicknames such as Lucila, Lucina, Lucha, and Lucero in addition to Lucy. A telenovela from over 20 years had a character named Dora Luz, which I have always liked.
Dora Luz – that’s really neat!
Does Maria de la Luz lend itself to a particular diminutive? Or does the “de la” get dropped? I always wonder about that one and I’ve yet to ask a native speaker.
It sometimes becomes Marilu.
When writing initials (at least in Mexico, I do not know about other countries), a person will typically write it as Maria L. Surname, not including “de la”. This type of contraction is also common with names that include “de” or “del”.
Elsa del Rosario will wite Elsa R. Surname and Jose de Jesus is usually J. Jesus Surname or J. J. Surname.
Interesting, especially about how the name is written. Thanks – and I kind of love Marilu, especially if I’m giving it the right pronunciation.
This is very interesting for me, as in South Africa, there is an Afrikaans name Lizaan. Luz is quite similar to Lizaan.
Luz is a name that is a part of a specific taste. I think it could be perceived as first as being different, but overall, I think it could work. As a name, it does not appeal to me.However, I can understand the appeal for others
I don’t think it is fair to say that it is a name only for the teenage years, as names like Katie, Bella, Belle,Evie are all nickname type names and are all used on adults. I personally find Luz much more mature and fitting than a Katie
You have very interesting names on this site
Thanks, Juliet!
And I do know a successful attorney who still answers to Katie – but puts Kathleen on her business cards!