Louis
Masculine · “famous in battle”
Louis is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 406,470 boys against 2,847 girls since 1880. See Louis as a girl name
Clovis and Louis are the same name. The first king of the Franks was Chlodovech, which Latin wrote as Chlodovechus and French wore down over five centuries to Louis — so the man who founded the French monarchy and the eighteen kings who carried the name afterward were all called the same thing, in different accents. Very few names can show their own history that clearly.
How old is the name Louis?
Louis was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Louis alive today was born around 1942, making them about 83 years old. About 174,000 people named Louis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Louis most popular?
Louis peaked in 1882, reaching #18 nationally. Today it ranks #249, 231 places below that high. See the whole 1882 chart.
Where it comes from
From Hludwig to Louis
The story of Louis
Clovis converted to Christianity around the end of the fifth century and his baptism at Reims tied the Frankish kingdom to Rome; his name became the royal name of the dynasty. It shifted spelling as French shifted pronunciation — Chlodovechus, Hlodovicus, Loys, Louis — and eighteen French kings carried the final form, including the one who built Versailles and the one who lost his head. The name reached English as Lewis and America as both. It charts today in France, Canada, England and Scotland at once, which very few names manage.
Meaning
famous in battle
From the Frankish elements hlud, famous or loud, and wig, battle or war. The German cousin is Ludwig, which shows the shape more plainly. It was the standard royal name of the Franks and then of France, and the meaning was chosen for exactly the reasons it looks like it was.
Cultural footprint
Louis Armstrong (b. 1901) — Jazz's founding genius ("What a Wonderful World")
Louis Pasteur (b. 1822) — Gave us pasteurization and vaccines
Louis XIV of France (b. 1638) — The Sun King who built Versailles
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Hludwig
- Chlodovechus
- Loys
- Louis
Related forms: Ludwig · Luis · Luigi · Lajos · Luís · Ludwik
Pronouncing Louis
LOO-iss
Two syllables in American English, with the s sounded. France says LOO, leaving the consonant entirely unspoken — so the written name and the spoken one are a syllable apart there. Both are correct in their own countries, and a Louis with French relatives will answer to both.
Nicknames for Louis
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19217,247 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #18reached in 1882
- Change vs 2022
- −3.5%1,391 in 2025, from 1,442
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Louis in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ludwig in German — same name
- Luis in Spanish — same name
- Luigi in Italian — same name
- Lajos in Hungarian — same name
- Luís in Portuguese — same name
- Ludwik in Polish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from INSEE, Statistics Canada, Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland. Sources
Louiss among us
people named Louis are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 1,228 born in 2025 was named Louis
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Louis has held the top-100 across 8 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Louis is headed
Louis should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Louis beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Louis in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has been a royal name in France for fifteen hundred years and is standard in every European language.
- Lou, Louie and Lu are all available and belong to different registers.
- It charts currently in four countries at once, which almost no name does.
- The meaning is documented and takes three words to give.
- The last consonant is spoken in America and not in France, which is the one permanent point of friction.
- Lewis is the English spelling of the same name and will be written by some people.
- Nearly every child given this spelling is a boy; the record's girls are very few.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Louis
Masculine · #249 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Louiss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 174,000 people named Louis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Louis in 2025?
- Louis ranks #249 among US boy names in 2025, with 1,391 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Louis?
- About 1 in every 1,228 US boys born in 2025 was named Louis — 1,391 in all.
- Will my child share the name Louis with classmates?
- Louis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Louis
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Cade#248 · Lane#250 · Harvey#251 · Ronan#247 · Walter#251 · Zayn#251 · Shepherd#246 · Mark#244
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Louis? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Louis and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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