Luther (surname)

As a German surname, Luther is derived from a Germanic personal name compounded from the words liut, "salvation", and heri, "army". As a rare English surname, it means lute player.[1] Luther is also derived from the Greek name Eleutherius. Eleutherius is a cognate of the Greek word eleutheros (ἐλεύθερος) which means "free".

As a personal name, Luther is a boy's name of German origin meaning "the salvation army". It was once restricted to Evangelical Protestants honoring the ecclesiastical reformer and theologian Martin Luther, founder of the Protestant Church.

## Notable people

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* Alan Harold Luther (born 1940), American theoretical physicist
* Bill Luther (born 1945), American congressman from Minnesota
* Bobbi Sue Luther (born 1978), American model and actress
* Cal Luther (1930–2021), American basketball coach
* Charles Luther (1885–1962), Swedish Olympic sprinter
* Charles Luther (soldier) (1880–1961), English soldier and cricketer
* Darlene Luther (1947–2002), American politician
* Frank Luther (1899–1980), American musician
* George Luther (1823–1884), American politician
* Hans Luther (1879–1962), German politician and Chancellor of Germany
* Harold C. Luther (1915–1973), American politician from New York
* Jeremy Luther (born 1973), American basketball coach
* John Luther (MP) (c. 1739–1786), English Member of Parliament
* Martin Christian Luther (1883–1963), Estonians entrepreneur and politician
* Martin Luther (diplomat) (1895–1945), German diplomat from 1940–1945 and a member of the Nazi Party
* Robert Luther (1822–1900), German astronomer (full name Karl Theodor Robert Luther)
* Robert Luther (Chemist) (1867/8–1945), German scientist (chemistry, photography)
* Ryan Luther (born 1995), American professional basketball player.
* Sally Luther (1918–2015), American politician from Minnesota
* Sidney A. von Luther (1925–1985), American politician, New York state senator
* Thomas Luther (born 1969), German chess player
* T. J. Luther (born 2000), American football player

## Arts, entertainment and media

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* Lex Luthor, a comic book villain from DC Comics
* Detective Chief Inspector John Luther, the protagonist of the British BBC television series Luther

## See also

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* Luther (disambiguation)
* Luther (given name)
* Luter (surname)

## References

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1. ^ Hanks and Hodges 1988

Surname list

This page lists people with the surname Luther.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.