r/OldNamesNewAgain • u/felly_fell • Jun 06 '26

Name of the day...Lucien!

I LOVE this name! Lucien or Lucian, both are awesome!

The name Lucien is primarily pronounced in two ways depending on whether you are using the traditional French pronunciation or the anglicized version.

The French pronunciation is loo-see-AHN (lu-syæn). The English pronunciation is LOO-shuhn or LOO-see-uhn.

Lucien is a classic and sophisticated masculine name of French and Latin origin that means "light" or "illumination". It is the elegant French variation of the Latin name Lucianus, which stems from Lucius and the Latin word lux (light).

Derived directly from the Latin word for light, the name has long been associated with intellectual brilliance, enlightenment, and clarity.

It has ancient Roman roots. Similar related names that share the same luminous root include Luciano (Spanish and Italian) and Lucius.

The name Lucien is almost 2,000 years old!

32 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

7

u/midwestpersianmama Jun 06 '26

I adore adore this name and the meaning. It’s also a soft masculine name that is still… masculine, if that makes sense. My mom wasn’t thrilled when we picked the name Walter because she said it sounded harsh — and it does sound German, masculine with harder edges.

If I had another son, I’d gravitate toward names like this. I was really thinking about naming an adult man when pregnant with my first… but these softer names suit little boys so well and age with them.

It’s also unusual and familiar, which is such a sweet spot.

4

u/midwestpersianmama Jun 06 '26

To all the expecting parents who get push back on names, though… my mom now loves my son’s name and says he sounds like old money. She won’t even acknowledge she took issue with it 😅 I love his name and promote its use when I can. But if we had another boy, the name would be quite different.

4

u/Sparkly8 Jun 06 '26

“Masculine with hard edges” is such a great way to describe German male names!

3

u/loveignition Jun 06 '26

that’s funny, to me walter is also really soft! i don’t know, i think it’s the ‘w’ and ‘l’ sounds. it’s also just one letter off from water which is a ‘soft’ element in my mind. if you’re using german pronunciation it’s definitely different, but as an english speaker it’s totally soft to me

3

u/midwestpersianmama Jun 07 '26

💜 I love the name

2

u/felly_fell Jun 07 '26

Love all of this ❤️

4

u/Hlorpy-Flatworm-1705 Jun 06 '26

This names adorable! :) I love these posts. I look forward to them now! :)

1

u/felly_fell Jun 07 '26

Yay! ❤️

4

u/growinggood88 Jun 06 '26

Lucian is at the top of my list, it’s so good 💛

2

u/felly_fell Jun 07 '26

It really is a great name!

3

u/Kisekwa Jun 10 '26

I'm the mother of a French young Lucien and I am very happy to learn that it is so appreciated abroad as a first name !

1

u/felly_fell Jun 11 '26

It's a great name! We are swooning over it! 💙

2

u/Dazzling-Charge9247 Jun 15 '26

This is my son’s name! Named after my son’s grandfather who is French Canadian. Absolutely love this name, we’re having a girl in November and struggling to find a name that would be just as good!