Silas (name) The Latin name "Silvanus" may be derived from pre-Roman Italian languages. Silas (name) Silas is a common given name and a lesser-known surname. It is a cognate of Silvanus. Silas as a name today comes from the early Christian disciple Silas. He is consistently called "Silas" in Acts, but the Latin Silvanus, which means "of the forest," is always used by Paul and in the First Epistle of Peter; it is likely that "Silvanus" is the Romanized version of the original "Silas," or that "Silas" is the Greek nickname for "Silvanus." It has been suggested that Silas is the Greek
Luke (name) the 2,105th most common surname in the US, with 15,000 people (0.006%) sharing the surname. Luke (name) Luke is a male given name, and less commonly, a surname. The name Luke is the English form of the Latin name . It is derived from the Latin name "Lucius", and it either means "the great Lucius", or it is a shortened form of the Latin name. "Lucius" means "the bright one" or "the one born at dawn". The frequently stated explanation of as "man from Lucania" is not supported by reliable sources. Although the name is attested in ancient inscriptions, the