[2] The Albanian toponym Lukovë stems from Slavic, either from the words Luk, Laka, Luka meaning water flowing nearby, meadowland, river meadow, wet meadow along a river or from luk, luka, place of onions; alongside the suffix ov/a.

During the Ottoman period, Lukovë, together with nearby Piqeras and Nivicë, was a part of the Himara area and enjoyed special semi-autonomous status inside this community.

[5] The Italian missionary Giuseppe Schirò wrote in 1722 that Lukovë was inhabited by ethnic Albanians.

[6][7] In 1798, Lukovë, together with adjacent villages in the region south of Himara, were attacked and plundered by the local Ottoman lord Ali Pasha of Ioannina.

[8] In the villages of Nivice and Shën Vasil, massacres of Orthodox inhabitants were committed around Easter of 1798.

[9] During the end of the 19th century, Greek elementary schools were already operating in the villages of Lukovë, Nivicë, Çorraj and Shën Vasil.