Loula
Feminine · “Germanic "famous warrior”
Louis is a French royal name that became a Southern American women's staple. Louise gave Lou, Lou gave Lula and Loula and Louella, and the whole family flourished in the American South in the 1880s and 1890s — eighteen kings of France, arriving as a nickname.
How old is the name Loula?
Loula was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Loula alive today was born around 1915, making them about 110 years old. About 100 people named Loula are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Loula most popular?
Loula peaked in 1881, reaching #447 nationally. Today it ranks #7885, 7,438 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Chlodowig to Loula
The story of Loula
Chlodowig was the name of the Frankish king who converted to Christianity around 500, and it became the standard French royal name, borne by eighteen kings from Louis the Pious to Louis XVIII. French speech wore it down to Louis with a silent s; German kept Ludwig; Spanish made Luis. The feminine Louise entered English use in the seventeenth century and became widespread in nineteenth-century America, and its clipped forms multiplied — Lou, Lula, Loula, Lulu, Louella, Lucinda by confusion. The Lou- family was particularly strong in the South. Loula peaks in 1881, and the whole group declines together after 1900.
Meaning
Germanic "famous warrior", by way of Louise
Louis is from Frankish Chlodowig — hlud, famous, plus wig, battle — the same name as Clovis and Ludwig. Louise is the French feminine; Lou is the English clip and Lula, Loula and Lulu are diminutives of it. The name went through French royal usage for eight hundred years before reaching American families.
How the name formed
- Chlodowig
- Louis
- Louise
- Loula
Related forms: Lula · Louise · Luise
Pronouncing Loula
LOO-lah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Loula and Lula are pronounced identically; the o adds a letter and no sound.
Nicknames for Loula
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 girls named
- 188417 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #447reached in 1881
- Change vs 2023
- +30.0%13 in 2025, from 10
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.
Loula in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lula in English — spelling variant
- Louise in French — related form
- Luise in German — related form
Loulas among us
people named Loula are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 123,636 born in 2025 was named Loula
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
Loula sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Loula beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Loula in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The underlying name has a settled Germanic meaning and a long royal history.
- Lou and Lulu are immediate short forms.
- It is short, soft and easy to say.
- Lula is the more common spelling.
- It reads as a diminutive rather than a full name.
- The 1880s peak dates a bearer very strongly.
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Loula
Feminine · #7885 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Loulas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Loula are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Loula in 2025?
- Loula ranks #7885 among US girl names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Loula?
- About 1 in every 123,636 US girls born in 2025 was named Loula — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Loula with classmates?
- Loula will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Loula
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ola#7885 · Consuelo#7885 · Santa#7885 · Florentina#7885 · Marty#7885 · Jaye#7885 · Donya#7885 · Dollie#7885
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Loula? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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