Story Behind the Name

When Corey and I found out we were pregnant with Luca, I immediately started planning everything. I was planning the nursery. The outfits. The first birthday party (more on this for another day). The book collection. And the name. I’m a project manager… can you blame me for wanting to plan every single detail? 

The name was by far the hardest thing for us to decide on. How do you choose a name that fits a person perfectly, but doesn’t accidentally torture them for their entire lives?

The thing about a person’s name is it just carries so much weight. Whether you like it or not, it’s such a huge part of your identity. It follows you for your entire life. It’s what you’re known for. It’s written on your grave when you die. And it can be a blessing or it can be a huge curse. 

I mean, can we just talk about people who are named things like Brock Lee or Sam Sung? There’s really a lot to think about. 

When we started our quest to find the perfect name for our sweet boy, Corey and I were on different planets. Different universes, really. 

His name ideas were just too… creative. I mean, does anyone really want to be named Gleybor or Giancarlo? No offense to any Gleybors or Giancarlos out there! But those are torture names for sure. Corey’s biggest wish was to name his baby boy after an athlete he admired and he started with the entire Yankees roster. 

Veto. 

My name options on the other hand were a little more… eclectic. I was really fighting for names like Milo or Oliver (Ollie for short. Cute right?!). But Corey couldn’t picture our little one standing at the front of a boardroom about to give a big presentation and starting with, “Hello, my name is Milo.” (Also, Luca, if you’re reading this many years in the future, you can be anything you want to be and it doesn’t have to involve a boardroom. Love you!)

Agreeing to disagree on our name choices so far, Corey and I were back to the drawing board. We agreed that it couldn’t be anything too out there and I still agreed that he could try to convince me to name him after an athlete. 

So Corey started looking at other sports teams and athletes he admired. Oregon Ducks. Knicks. Giants. Rangers. Definitely not the Red Sox.

Everything was a veto for me.  After working his way through basically every American sports team he could think of, he eventually made his way to an Italian soccer team.

“How about Luca?” he said one day. 

“Luca.” I said back to him. “I don’t mind that.”

I’d like to say I knew immediately that it was perfect and that was the end, but it wasn’t. We still went back and forth for a few months. But eventually, we just started calling him Luca and that was that. It was decided. 

I’d also like to say that I put so much time and effort into researching exactly what names meant and made sure to pick one that would be strong and mighty, just like I envisioned him. I didn’t do that either. 

It wasn’t until a few months after Luca was born that I looked into the meaning and origin of his name. 

Luca… bringer of light. The name “Luca” is derived from the name “Lucas” which comes from the Latin word “Lux”. It’s an Italian name that really didn’t start gaining popularity in America until the 2010s, but I’m guessing it’ll gain more popularity after Pixar announced their next movie coming out this summer is called Luca. 

When I looked up the meaning of his name, we were already deep in the unknown of trying to figure out what was going on with him. We were having some of the hardest days of our lives and I was floored when I saw it. 

Bringer of light. Wow. I still can’t believe we picked that name pretty randomly and without much thought put into it. It was just a cute name that we loved, but we had no idea the weight it would carry in his short life so far. 

It’s exactly who he is. Outside of God and maybe the sun, he is the ultimate bringer of light. He lights up every room he’s in with his tiny little smile. His laugh takes away every stress and helps us forget any worry we have in that moment. His smile is contagious and his laugh is infectious. 

It was meant to be. God knew exactly what he was doing when he gave us that name. He knew the hardships he (and we) would endure and knew that this little light would bring us so much joy despite the trials that would come.

He is our brave little light. The bravest, brightest, most amazing little light and I couldn’t imagine another name fitting him so well.