Lua is the Portuguese and Galician word for "moon", a direct descendant of the Latin luna. It is a short nature name popular in Brazil and Portugal and a fresh alternative to the much more common Luna. In the United States Lua ranked number 14237 in 2000, rose steeply from number 5589 in 2015 to a peak of number 1786 in 2023 and stands at number 2090 among girls' names in 2025.