A female name. Latin f. of Lucius (q.v.). St Lucia was a virgin martyred at Syracuse under Diocletian; she is said to have had her eyes put out, and was consequently regarded as the patroness of those suffering from diseases of the eyes. She was a popular saint in the Middle Ages and from the 12th C onwards Lucy or Luce was a favourite name in England. Luce continued to be used well into the 17th C. The Latin form Lucia came into use at the end of the 17th C. The diminutive Lucette (still used in France) is sometimes found in England in the Middle Ages. Luciana, which occurs in the 13th C, is probably a f. form of Lucian (q.v.); Lucina, also used in the 13th C, is apparently another diminutive of Lucy.

Lucia Curia Regis Rolls 1196-1215, Hundred Rolls 1273, Feudal Aids 1428. Lucie 14th-C Legendary. Luce Hundred Rolls 1273, 15th-C Brut, Yorks Rec 1604. Lucy English Register of Godstow Nunnery, c. 1450 (E.E.T.S. 129-30) 1450. Luciana Curia Regis Rolls 1201-3.

Probably the English representation of French Lucie, from Latin Lucia, the f. of Lucius, q. v. It has never since been so popular as in C17, ‘when many noble ladies were called Lucy, but poetry chose to celebrate them as Lucinda, or by some other fashionable variety (especially Lucasta) of this sweet and simple word,’ Yonge; it is prominent, too, in martyrology.

A name derived from Lucia, a female name derived from Lucius.

Latin (feminine) - Light.