Today's new parents are adopting the name Luna en masse, but another equally beautiful and meaningful name remains largely overlooked. Lua, a member of the special group of baby names that mean moon, would make a cute name for any little girl, but few parents have used it so far. If you're in despair over Luna's popularity, Lua might be the perfect alternative.
The short and sweet Lua remains underused while name-cousin Luna keeps popping up on new birth certificates all over the country, and even overseas. But that just makes Lua all the more primed to rise, given contemporary parents' affinity for unusual and unique baby names.
In fact, Lua has already been picked up by a couple of celebrity parents, who are famous for picking names ahead of the curve. In 2017, actor, author, and son of Michael Douglas, Cameron Douglas, paved the way when he and his partner Viviane Thibes named their daughter Lua Izzy. In 2023, The 5 Seconds of Summer guitarist Michael Clifford also boosted the name's visibility when he and his wife Crystal used Lua for their baby girl.
Like the name Lua? Grab a copy of this free printable here. Courtesy and copyright of namesandnursery.com.The alluring celestial meaning of the name Luna has undoubtedly played a major role in its transition from a rarely-heard girl name into a twenty-first century style star. That bodes well for Lua, too, which shares a meaning with Luna: both names mean "moon".
Luna means "moon" in Latin, Spanish and Italian, while Lua is the Portuguese word for the moon. With a shared meaning and similar sounds, Lua feels like the perfect alternative to Luna if you can't, or don't want to, use the hugely popular Luna.
While the meaning "moon" is what you want to remember if you're considering naming your baby girl Lua, the name also has some secondary meanings and associations. For example, it crops up as a Chinese surname, though the Romanized spelling can take various forms. Coincidentally, Lua is also an Irish surname, famously borne by the founder of the Irish Post, Brendan Mac Lua. There's also a medieval Irish saint, Saint Molua, whose name is sometimes contracted to just Lua.
Finally, Lua was also the name of a goddess in ancient Roman mythology and religion. However, not much is known about the mythological character, and the little that we do know — she was associated with battle — is probably not going to sway anyone.
Besides the lunar meaning, Lua has several other ingredients for success: it's short, soft and sweet, and it has the very feminine a-ending. This puts it in the same category as Mia, Mila, Ella, Isla, Leah – all popular names for baby girls in contemporary America.
Using the name Lua, either as a first name or in the middle name spot, could also be a way to honor a familial Luann (or Luanne). This old-fashioned L-name was at peak popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, which means there are now scores of Luanns and Luannes who would no doubt welcome the honor.
The best middle names are usually those that hold a deeper meaning for the child's parents. Lua Izzy, for example, was named after her great grandfather, late-actor Kirk Douglas, who was born Issur Danielovitch and later became known as Izzy Demsky, before adopting the name Kirk Douglas.
If you can't think of a person you might want to honor with Baby Lua's middle name, there are also other ways to generate ideas for a meaningful middle: you could, for example, choose a name inspired by a place that holds significance for you, whether it's a city you love, a favorite vacation spot, or the name of a meaningful landmark.
Or, consider a middle name that embodies a virtue you value. Names like Grace, Hope, Joy and Faith have a long history of use as middle names, but there are also plenty of less common virtue names that might make a beautiful and meaningful middle name for Lua.
Talking about virtues and values, you could also pick a name that reflects your religion. If you're a Christian, you might pick a classic biblical girl name such as Elizabeth or Abigail, or go with one of the more unusual biblical girl names if you have a taste for the unique.
Yet another avenue, and one that we think is particularly interesting if you're planning to name your daughter Lua, is to pair it with a nature-themed middle name. The use of nature-inspired girl names in the middle name spot has seen a huge surge this century, and name combos like Lua Skye, Lua Rose and Lua Sage would perfectly capture the zeitgeist.