[spoilers] Lucas. Just Lucas.

[Byatil]

/probably irrelevant point ahead!/

I was doing some work in my Lit class the other day on the origins of names used in The Kite Runner, which prompted me to wonder whether the original writers of Lucas' character might have chosen his name for the etymology of it.

Lucas is a variation of the name Luke, meaning "light" or "illumination".
John is a biblical name, and is said to mean "God is gracious".

These names seem like interesting choices - Lucas being the "bringer of light", and John having the link to God (connection with Blake and his father [being a Methodist minister]). Obviously they may well have been chosen simply because they sound nice or give a certain impression about the character, but nonetheless, I decided to try searching for a few other character names and interestingly:

Rosalind means "hard worker"
Connie means "to be knowledgeable"
Ruth means "friend" or "compassion"
Harry means "home ruler"
Malcolm means "follower" or "devotee"
Sarah means "princess"
Tariq means "nocturnal visitor" or "morning star"
Joanne means "God is gracious" whilst Josephine means "he will enlarge"

Just a little food for thought!