Louise

What Louise means

Feminine form of Louis, meaning “loud; famous + battle”

feminine form of Louis || From French Louis, from Middle French Loïs, Loïc, &c., from Old French Looïs, Luis, Lodhuvigs, Lodevis, Lodhwig, &c., from Latin Ludovicus, from Clodovicus, from Frankish *Hlūdawīg, from Proto-Germanic *hlūdaz (“loud; famous”) + *wīgą (“bat

Source: Wiktionary, “Louise” (revision 92416439) and “Louis” (revision 94541261), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Louise?

US: Rising: up from #1079 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #417 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1912, when 5,116 girls got the name (#17 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 2,776 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 5,756 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DC (2.97 per 1,000 girls), ME (2.25 per 1,000 girls), CO (1.24 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Louise is #514 in the US and #816 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Louise were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Lois124 US · 87 E&W
• Luis7 US
• Louis6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Louise

Girls

• Margot#102Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #592 in 2015, #102 in 2025
• Jane#221“God is gracious”^*
• Rosalie#171“rose”^*
• Colette#316Editor’s note Up from #525 in 2015 to #316 in 2025 in the US
• Noelle#202Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #202 vs #705 in 2025
• Elisa#458Editor’s note Up from #489 in 2015 to #458 in 2025 in the US

For a brother

• Bo#449Swedish, from Old Norse Búi, meaning “dweller, long-time resident”^*
• Lewis#433Same root as Louis, meaning “loud; famous + battle”^*
• Augustine#545Same root as Austin, meaning “majestic”^*
• Marcel#730Editor’s note Up from #771 in 2015 to #730 in 2025 in the US
• Noel#478French, meaning “birthday of the Lord”^*
• Julien#709Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #709 vs #3,256 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under French, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Louise’s. Rank is US 2025.