The electronic structure and the origin of luminescence from blue luminescent carbon nanocrystals (CNC) have been investigated with X-ray absorption near-edge structures (XANES) and X-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL). XANES shows that nitrogen has been incorporated into the carbon nanocrystals matrix (dominated by sp(2) carbon). XEOL from CNC is compared with that from natural diamond and previously reported CVD nanodiamond containing N impurities. The results reveal that N doping is almost certainly responsible for the blue luminescence in carbon nanocrystals. The implication of the results is discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.