Luther
About Luther
Once restricted to evangelical Protestants honoring the ecclesiastical reformer and theologian Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant revolution. In more recent times it has been favored by parents wishing to honor civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr. Luther was a Top 100 name at the turn of the last century, but fell off the list in the early 1990s.
Luther Burbank was an eminent botanist and Luther Vandross was a popular R&B artist. It's the name of a main character on the Disney series Zeke and Luther. The name was given a shot of contemporary energy via Idris Elba's dynamic performance in the eponymous BBC crime drama.
Pronounced LOO-ther.
As of October 2026, Luther ranked #1464 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #63 in 1887, Nameberry popularity #657.
Editor: Sophie Kihm
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,570 | 101 | 52.6 |
| 2015 | #1,622 | 99 | 51.7 |
| 2016 | #1,627 | 99 | 52.2 |
| 2017 | #1,615 | 99 | 53.5 |
| 2018 | #1,515 | 113 | 62.2 |
| 2019 | #1,392 | 128 | 71.3 |
| 2020 | #1,509 | 112 | 64.9 |
| 2021 | #1,390 | 132 | 75.5 |
| 2022 | #1,580 | 112 | 64.1 |
| 2023 | #1,504 | 118 | 69 |
| 2024 | #1,499 | 119 | 69.1 |
| 2025 | #1,464 | 122 | 71.4 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Luther.
- Klaus
- Lloyd
- Lionel
- Lars
- Griffith
- Solomon
- Sylvester
- Orlando
- Darwin
- Jethro
- Boaz
- Pascal
- Byron
- Quincy
- Enoch
- Virgil
- Wolfgang
- Roland
- Caspar
- Bruno
Luther on lists
Famous Luthers
- Luther Ronzoni Vandross
Jr., American R&B singer
- Luther (born Lutha) Adler
American actor
- Luther Allison
American blues guitarist
- Luther Badger
American lawyer and politician
- Luther Loide Blissett
English footballer
- Luther Burbank
American botanist
- Luther Roderick Campbell
American record executive
- Luther Andrews Dickinson
American rock guitarist
- Luther Chase Goldman
American naturalist and wildlife photographer
- Luther James Grosvenor
English rock musician
- Luther Dale Head
American basketball player
- Luther Martin Magby
American gospel singer
- Luther Martin
American politician
- Luther Robinson
American football player
- Luther A Wright Jr.
American baseball player
- Martin Luther
German Protestant reformer
- Martin Luther King
Jr., American civil rights leader
Luther in pop culture
- Luthisour Jerome "Luther" Waffles
main character on Disney's "Zeke & Luther"
- Luther
recurring character on TV's "Key and Peele" (Obama's anger translator.)
- Luther Krank
character in movie "Christmas with the Kranks"
- Luther Pinks
character in movie "Slow Burn"
- Luther Wainwright
character on TV's "The Mentalist"
- Luther
character on TV's "Supernatural"
- John Luther
main character on British TV's "Luther"
- Luther College
school in Iowa, USA
- Luther Hargreeves
a character from the comic and Netflix show The Umbrella Academy