DALLAS — Luka Doncic isn’t sure how his parents came up with his name. It’s pretty common in Europe. He’s never given it much thought.
He just knows people wear his name on their Mavericks jerseys, chant his name when he plays well and often include him in the first-name-only NBA superstar echelon.
Shaq. Kobe. LeBron. Luka.
He’s 22 years old, not yet in the prime of his career. He’s not ready to analyze potential baby names for his future family.
But thousands of people who’ve become parents since Doncic joined the Mavericks have, and there’s a consensus.
Luka is no longer just a rising star on the basketball court.
The name “Luka” has more than tripled in popularity since Doncic made his NBA debut in 2018 as parents across the Dallas area, the U.S. and the world have given their babies the same name as the Mavericks’ All-Star.
From Glenn Heights to Melissa, Iowa to Panama, the next generation of Lukas are growing up with a name that fits current American trends for baby boys and pays homage to one of the NBA’s most charismatic, captivating players with seemingly unlimited potential for development.
Every parent’s dream.
“If someone names their child after me — maybe they’re not all after me, you know — but I think some of them are, it feels special,” Doncic said. “I don’t know what to say. It just feels special.”
We often quantify Doncic’s meteoric NBA rise with statistics.
He’s ranked in the NBA’s top seven for average points and assists each of the last two seasons. He broke the Mavericks’ record for career triple-doubles in less than two years. He often sets career-high marks — only to surpass them again games later.
As the Mavericks approach their second consecutive Doncic-led playoff run, consider another dominance-defining metric:
“Luka” was the 404th-most popular name for babies born in the U.S. in 2017, according to annual data from the Social Security Administration.
“Luka” then rose to:
320th in 2018, when the Mavericks acquired him with a draft-night trade that June.
221st in 2019, when he finished one of the best rookie seasons in NBA history.
163rd in 2020, when not even a global pandemic could stop him from ending the Mavericks’ playoff drought with the flair many now know as Luka Magic.
Last year, 2,319 baby boys were named Luka, up from 704 in 2017.
The boost isn’t only a product of expectant parents who are rabid Mavericks fans and manage to con their spouses into liking “Luka” before revealing the source of inspiration.
Full disclosure: A very serious, not-at-all-adorable Dallas Morning News investigation did reveal that is sometimes the case.
Rather, the name “Luka” also fits several trends name expert Laura Wattenberg, author of The Baby Name Wizard, has long tracked.
Wattenberg has noticed an increase in parents using personal interests, celebrities or other cultural figures for creative sparks as many have strayed from the expectation that newborns take family names.
In the sports realm, track the number of New England-born babies named “Brady” over the past two decades, for example, and it’s clear when Tom Brady and the Patriots were contending for a Super Bowl or when the quarterback was out for injury or suspension.
Look at “Giannis” in Wisconsin, where the first name of two-time reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo was about three times more popular for 2019 babies than in the rest of the U.S.
But why has “Luka” — as opposed to, say, Mavericks legend “Dirk” — resonated with expecting families so quickly?
“Luka” includes a long, strong vowel sound in a short, two-syllable name, similar to “Liam” and “Noah,” the two most popular boys’ names in 2019 and 2020.
Wattenberg said many parents have become more willing to give their sons a name ending in “a,” as long as it remains “uniquely masculine.”
“No matter how big a celebrity is, no matter how beloved a celebrity is, it has to be the right name,” Wattenberg said. “It has to be a name of the style that parents were ready for.
“ ‘Luka’ just checks a lot of boxes. It sounds right.”
Newborn Lukas aren’t always a direct tribute to the Mavericks’ star, so much as Doncic might have been the first to propel the name and spelling into mainstream American consciousness.
Either way, Mavericks fans have appreciated his assist.
