Louis is the French form of the Old Frankish given name Chlodwig and one of two English forms, the other being Lewis ().
Contents
Etymology
The name Louis (through the intermediate form Clovis) is derived from the Frankish name ᚺᛚᛟᛞᛟᚹᛁᚷ (in runic alphabet) or *Hlōdowik or *Hlōdowig (in Latin alphabet). Traditionally, this name is considered to be composed of two elements, derived from both Proto-Germanic *hlūdaz ("loud, famous") and *wiganą ("to battle, to fight") respectively, resulting in the traditional practice of translating Clovis' name as meaning "famous warrior" or "famous in battle".
However, scholars have pointed out that Gregory of Tours consequently transcribes the names of various Merovingian royal names containing the first element as chlodo-. The use of a close-mid back protruded vowel (o), rather than the expected close back rounded vowel (u) which Gregory does use in various other Germanic names (i.e. Fredegundis, Arnulfus, Gundobadus, etc.) opens up the possibility that the first element instead derives from Proto-Germanic *hlutą ("lot, share, portion"), giving the meaning of the name as "loot bringer" or "plunder (bringing) warrior". This hypothesis is supported by the fact that if the first element is taken to mean "famous", then the name of Chlodomer (one of Clovis' sons) would contain two elements (*hlūdaz and *mērijaz) both meaning "famous", which would be highly uncommon within the typical Germanic name structure.
Variant forms
Afrikaans: Lodewyk, Ludwig, Louis
Arabic: لويس
Albanian: Luigj, Ludovik
Ancient Germanic: Chlodovech, Clodovicus, Ludovicus, Clovis, Hludowig
Armenian: Լուդովիկ (Loudovik)
Basque: Aloxi, Koldobika, Luki, Koldo
Breton: Loeiz, Loïc
Bengali: লুইস, লুডউইগ, romanized: Luis/Luish, Luduig
Bulgarian: Людовик (Lyudovik)
Catalan: Lluís
Chinese: 路易 (Lùyì)
Croatian: Alojzije, Ljudevit, Ludovik, Luj, Alojz
Czech: Ludvík, Alois, Luděk
Danish: Ludvig, Lodvig
Dutch: Lodewijk, Lode, Loe, Lowieke, Ludo
English: Louis, Louie, Lou, Lewis, Lewes, Lewie, Lew, Lewy or Luey; Ludovic, Lodvig, Lodovig, Lutwidge
Esperanto: Ludoviko, Luĉjo
Faroese: Ludvík
French: Louis, Ludovic, Clovis
Galician: Lois, Luís
Georgian: ხლოდვიგი (Khlodvigi), ლუდვიგი (ludvigi), ლუდოვიკო(ludoviko), ლუი (lui)
Feminine variants
Arabic: لويز
Belarusian: Луіза (Luiza)
Chinese Simplified: 路易丝 (Lùyìsī)
Chinese Traditional: 路易絲 (Lùyìsī)
Croatian: Alojzija
Danish: Louise
Dutch: Louisa, Louise, Ludovica
English: Louise, Louisa, Lou, Louella, Lula, Luella, Lulu, Lua
Estonian: Loviise
Finnish: Loviisa
French: Lou, Louise, Louisette
German: Aloisia, Louisa, Luise, Lulu, Luisa
Greek: Λουίζα (Louíza)
Gujarati: લુઇસ (Lu'isa)
Hebrew: לואיז
Hindi: लुइस (Lu'isa)
Hungarian: Lujza
Italian: Lodovica, Ludovica, Luigia, Luisa, Gigia, Gina, Ginetta, Luigina, Luisella
Japanese: ルイーザ (Ruīza), ルイ (Rui)
Kannada: ಲೂಯಿಸ್ (Lūyis)
Korean: 루이사 (Luisa)
Lithuanian: Liudvika
Maori: Ruiha
Macedonian: Лујза (Lujza), Лојза (Lojza)
Arts and entertainment
Louis (singer) (1952–2011), Serbian singer
Louis Anthony deLise (born 1949), American composer, arranger, and record producer
Louis Akin (1868–1913), American painter and illustrator
Lou Albano (1933–2009), Italian wrestler, manager and actor
Louie Anderson (1953–2022), American stand-up comedian and actor
Louis Armstrong (1901–1971), American jazz musician
Louis Bannet (1911–2002), Dutch trumpeter
Louis C.K. (born 1967), American comedian
Louis Cachet (born 1973), Norwegian musician
Louis Calabro (1926–1991), Italian American orchestral composer
Louis Calhern (1895–1956), American actor
Louis Cheung (born 1980), Hong Kong singer, songwriter, and actor
Louis Clark (1947–2021), English musical arranger and keyboard player
Louis Cole (born 1983), English YouTuber
Louis Cole (born 1986), American musician
Lou Costello (1906–1959), American comedian
Louis Daguerre (1787–1851), French artist and photographer
Politics
Louis A. Bloom (1900–1988), Pennsylvania State Representative and Judge
Louis Borno, President of Haiti during United States occupation of Haiti
Louis Brandeis (1856–1941), American Supreme Court justice and Zionist leader
Louis Philippe de Bombelles, Austrian count and diplomat
Louis Conradt, politician from Texas, investigated by To Catch a Predator
Louis DeJoy (born 1957), American businessman and current postmaster general of the United States
Louis René Édouard, cardinal de Rohan (1734–1803), French religious leader and politician
Louis Farrakhan (born 1933), Afro-American social leader
Louis De Geer (1818–1896), Sweden's first prime minister; baron, statesman and writer
Louis De Geer (1910–1987), Swedish diplomat
Gerhard Louis De Geer, known as Louis De Geer (1854–1935), Swedish prime minister
Louis "Louie" Gohmert (born 1953), Texas politician and U.S. Congressman
Louis Lucien Hunter, Sri Lankan civil servant and politician
Louis Alphonse Koyagialo, Prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Royalty
Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Germany
Louis the Pious, Emperor and King of the Franks from 814 to his death.
Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor, eldest son of the emperor Lothair I
Louis III, Holy Roman Emperor, maternal grandson of the emperor Louis II
Louis the German (Louis II), the third son of the emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife
Louis the Child (Louis III), the last true Carolingian ruler of East Francia
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Kings of France
Louis the Pious, Emperor and King of the Franks from 814 to his death
Louis the Stammerer, the eldest son of Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans
Louis III of France, king of Western Francia
Louis IV of France, king of France from 936 to 954
Louis V of France, son of the Frankish King Lothair and his wife Emma
Louis VI of France, King of France from 1108 to 1137
Louis VII of France, King of France from 1137 to 1180
Louis VIII of France, King of France from 1223 to 1226
Louis IX of France, King of France from 1226 to 1270
Louis X of France, King of France from 1314 to 1316
Louis XI, King of France from 1461 to 1483
Louis XII, King of France from 1498 to 1515
Louis XIII, King of France and Navarre from 1610 to 1643
Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre from 1643 to 1715
Louis XV, King of France and Navarre from 1715 to 1774
Louis XVI, King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791
Louis XVII, the son of King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette
Other French royalty
Louis (948–c. 954), Prince of France and son of King Louis IV of France
Louis, Count of Évreux (1276–1319), Prince of France
Louis of France (1264–1276), Prince of France and heir apparent of France
Louis (1309–1328), Count of Chartres
Louis I, Count of Nevers (1272–1322), Count of Nevers and Rethel
his son, Louis I, Count of Flanders (c. 1304–1346), Count of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel
Louis I of Anjou (1339–1384), Prince of France and Duke of Anjou
Louis Charles, Count of Beaujolais (1779–1808), "Louis Charles Alphonse Léodgard d'Orléans," Count of Beaujolais
Louis I, Duke of Bourbon (1279–1341), "Louis the Lame," Duke of Bourbon
Louis II, Duke of Bourbon (1337–1410), "Louis de Bourbon," "Louis the Good," Duke of Bourbon
Louis, Duke of Guyenne (1397–1415), Dauphin of Viennois and Duke of Guyenne
Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours (1814–1896), Prince Louis of Orléans, Duke of Nemours
Louis I, Duke of Orléans (1372–1407), Duke of Orléans and Touraine
See also Louis d'Orléans
Louis, Grand Dauphin (1661–1711), Prince of France
Kings of Etruria
Louis I of Etruria, King of Etruria from 1801 to 1803
Louis II of Etruria, King from 1803 to 1807, also Duke of Lucca (1824–1847) and Duke of Parma (1847–1849)
Kings of Holland
Louis I Bonaparte, King of Holland from 1806 to 1810
Louis II Bonaparte, King of Holland in 1810, also Grand Duke of Berg
Kings of Hungary
Louis the Great, (Louis I of Hungary) Apostolic King of Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Jerusalem and Sicily from 1342, King of Poland from 1370
Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia, King of Bohemia and Hungary from 1516 to 1526
King of Portugal
Louis I of Portugal (1838–1889), succeeded to his older brother Peter V in 1861
King of Spain
Louis I of Spain, the eldest son of Philip V of Spain by his first Queen consort Maria Louisa of Savoy
Princes of Monaco
Louis I, Prince of Monaco
Louis II, Prince of Monaco, Sovereign Prince of Monaco from 26 June 1922 until 9 May 1949
Princes of the United Kingdom
Prince Louis of Wales (born 2018), son of William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales, grandson of King Charles III
Dukes and Kings of Bavaria
Louis I, Duke of Bavaria
Louis II, Duke of Bavaria
Louis III, Duke of Bavaria
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, also Duke of Bavaria
Louis V, Duke of Bavaria, also Margrave of Brandenburg as Louis I
Louis VI, Duke of Bavaria, also Margrave of Brandenburg as Louis II
Louis VII, Duke of Bavaria
Louis VIII, Duke of Bavaria
Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria
Louis X, Duke of Bavaria
Louis I King of Bavaria from 1825 to 1848
Louis II King of Bavaria from 1864 to 1886, the Märchenkönig (Fairy tale king)
Louis III, Regent from 1912 to 1913, King from 1913 to 1918 (last king of Bavaria)
Grand-Duke of Berg
Louis, Grand Duke of Berg from 1809 to 1813, also King of Holland as Louis II
Grand-Dukes of Hesse
Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse
Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse
Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse
Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse
Duke of Savoy
Louis, Duke of Savoy, Duke of Savoy from 1440 to 1465
Duke of Württemberg
Louis Eugene, Duke of Württemberg
Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
Science and innovation
Louis Blériot (1872–1936), French aviator and inventor
Louis Braille (1809–1852), inventor of braille
Louis de Broglie (1892–1987), French physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
Louis E. Brus (1943–2026), American chemist and Nobel Prize laureate
Louis Ignarro (born 1941), American pharmacologist and Nobel Prize laureate
Louis Leakey (1903–1972), British paleontologist
Louis Lliboutry (1922–2007), French-Chilean glaciologist
Louis Mink (1921–1983), American philosopher of history
Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), French microbiologist and chemist, discoverer of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization
Louis Le Prince (1841–disappeared 1890), French inventor, Father of Cinematography
Louis Schoonhoven (born 1931), Dutch entomologist
Louis Slotin (1910–1946), Canadian physicist and chemist
Louis Wirth (1897–1952), American sociologist
Sports
Louis Almond (born 1992), English footballer
Louis Babrow (1915–2004), South African rugby union player
Louis Baise (1927–2020), South African Olympic wrestler
Louis Bullard (1956–2010), American football player
Louis Campbell (born 1979), American basketball player
Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941), racing driver and the founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company
Louis Unser (1896–1979), American race car driver and Hillclimb racer
Louis Delétraz (born 1997), Swiss race car driver
Louis Clarke (1901–77), American Olympic track champion
Louis Ford (footballer) (1914–1980), Welsh footballer
Louis van Gaal (born 1951), Dutch footballer and manager
Louis Greene (born 1992), English professional boxer
Louis Hubert (born 2007), French para-cyclist
Louis Iglesias (born 2008), French racing driver
Louis Jani (born 1957), Canadian judoka
Louis Kaplan (1901–1970), nicknamed "Kid Kaplan", Russian-born American world champion Hall of Fame featherweight boxer
Other occupations
Louis de Barth (1764–1844), Franco-American Roman Catholic priest
Louis Edmund Blaze (1861–1951), Sri Lankan Burgher educationist, founder of Kingswood College, Kandy, Sri Lanka
Louis Botha (1862–1919), South African politician, first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, one of the principal commanders of the Second Boer War
Louis Brouillard (1921–2018), American Catholic priest
Louis Congo (c. 1725), emancipated slave, appointed public executioner of Louisiana
Louis Le Duff, French billionaire businessman
Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, French general during World War I
Louis V. Gerstner Jr. (born 1942), chairman and CEO of IBM
Louis Antoine Godey (1804–1878), American editor and publisher
Louis Jolliet (1645–1700), French explorer, one of the first Europeans to reach the northern part of the Mississippi River
Louis Kealoha, former Chief of the Honolulu Police Department and convicted felon
Louis-Frédéric Lescure (1904–1993), French industrialist
Louis Mountbatten (1900–1979), last Viceroy of India and first Governor-General of independent India, cousin of Queen Elizabeth II
Louis Palander (1842–1920), Swedish naval officer
Fictional characters
Louis de Pointe du Lac, character in the Vampire Chronicles novels by Anne Rice
Louis the Alligator, a character from the animated film The Princess and the Frog
Louis Huang, character played by Randall Park in Fresh Off the Boat
Louis Litt, character played by Rick Hoffman in Suits
Louis Tully, character played by Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II
Louis Wu, character in the Ringworld books by Larry Niven
Louis Guiabern, the main antagonist of Metaphor: ReFantazio
Louis, one of the main protagonists of Left 4 Dead