Lui: meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning & origin

Where it comes from

Lui comes from Cantonese.

How it developed

From French Louis.

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1990. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Lui through the years

Babies since 1880: 164; 164 boys · 0 girls
Most popular year: 2021; 17 babies
2025: 8; #9,393 for boys
2021–25 vs 2016–20: +53%; Rising fast

Lui in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1990–2025, per million boys born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

In 2025, this name appeared in 8 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 9,393 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 772 as a first name in 2020; 6,377 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Lui’s family of names

In Hawaiian usage, Lui was borrowed from the English form Louis. In Hawaiian usage, Lui has a conventional equivalent in the Portuguese form LUDOVICO. In Hawaiian usage, Lui has a conventional equivalent in the Portuguese form Luís.

Walk Lui’s family in the name graph

Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Around the world

Lui has relatives in 5 languages. Lines run from its Chinese roots to each of them.

6 related names in 5 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.

Each dot marks where a language is rooted, not where people with the name live today. Bigger dots hold more names. Language locations from Glottolog (CC BY 4.0); map from Natural Earth.

Nicknames & forms 1

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Luyvariant · Tagalog

Spellings & scripts 2

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Across languages 6

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

Similar names

If you love Lui, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Chinese · Modern

Sibling ideas

Names that share Lui’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Lui

A sister for Lui

Your shortlist

Lui