Luther
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Meaning
famous warrior
The story
Luther is a Germanic name usually explained as famous warrior, from roots for people or fame joined to army. It came to English not as a first name but as a surname made enormous by Martin Luther, the reformer whose 1517 protest reshaped Christianity, and American families turned it into a given name in his honor, a Protestant habit once visible across much of the country. Its greatest American bearer inverted the martial meaning entirely: Martin Luther King Jr. bound the name to nonviolence. The US curve is strongest from the 1890s through the 1940s and then settles into a lower but unbroken band that continues into the 2020s, the signature of a name that became a family heirloom rather than a fashion. Choosing Luther today usually honors a chain of specific men, and the chain itself is the meaning.
How popular is Luther around the world?
In the United States, 715 babies were named Luther between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Luther in 2017.
Luther is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, England and Wales, Canada and Brazil.
United States
1 in 30,000
In the United States, 715 babies were named Luther between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Luther peaked in the 1890s and the 1940s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Luther has stayed between 715 and 6,520 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Luther in 2017.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
England and Wales
1 in 53,000
In England and Wales, 11 boys named Luther were born in 2025, ranked 2,133rd among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Canada
1 in 73,000
In Canada, 5 boys named Luther were born in 2024, ranked 3,231st among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 113 people in Brazil were named Luther, ranked 37,868th, with a median age of 25.
Among people named Luther living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Montevideo City
last on record 1980
Luther is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New Zealand
last on record 1998
Luther is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Luther
People given the name Luther in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1940 to 1989. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Luther deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Luther truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Luther fits with your family’s names and surname.
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