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Re: Luka female
Luca is for several years in a row already the most popular name for male newborns in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and people here have no trouble to recognize it as a male name, despite the "a" ending. See here:
http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/bevoelkerung/uebersicht/blank/analysen__berichte/prenoms/01.htmlI did not research it, but I have a nagging suspicion that the origin of the female Luka/Luca in Germany is not a proper, genuine variant of clearly female Lucia and Lukretia, but simply the result of a (still on-going) confusion: If in a country enough people mistake a male name as female, it gets female there as well...
Rene     www.AboutNames.ch
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1997 I got informations about my daughter´s name Luka of the University Leipzig Society for Name Research (Gesellschaft für Namenkunde, Namenberatungsstelle). So sure Luka/Luca is a male name in many regions, in Scandinavia Luca is more female, and originally Luka is a female name in Germany. Luka/Luca is a short name from Lukrezia, Lukretia, Lucretia and Lucia.
In Germany there are strict rules for names, and normally the ending A is female. Andrea and Nicola are female names in Germany. I´m a little bit sorry for my daughter that Luka/Luca became so popular for boys. But I can´t help it anymore, and we still love her name. I think it´s a wonderful name for boys and girls. Girls and women called Luka or Luca, please send a message!
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Same in SpanishIn Spanish speaking countries without Italian influence (Argentina and Uruguay have it), Luca is often interpreted as feminine name, because of the ending in -A. This is a mistake, but a popular Spanish name book as El libro de los nombres by Josep Maria Albaigès list Luca as feminine form of Lucas. I don't know if Albaigès has found some documents of traditional use of Luca as feminine form of Lucas in Spanish, if he reflects the fact that nowadays it is considered the feminine form (originated by a mistake) or, simply, if it is an Albaigès's error (name books often have errors).Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
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