Name of the Week: Louis

 

 

Origin:

Louis is the French form of Clovis and Ludovicus, both Latinised forms of the Old High German name Chlodovech and its Frankish counterpart Hludowig.  Both names derive from the Proto-Germanic elements *hluda- "heard of, famous" (from which we get the English word 'loud') and *wiga "war, battle."

Usage:

The founder of the Merovingian Dynasty of Frankish kings, Chlodovech I (466-511) — commonly known as Clovis I — was the first Frankish king to unite all the Frankish tribes together, establishing a Frankish Merovingian kingdom for two centuries. Soon after his death, he was considered a hero and a model king*. For the French, he is the founder of France* and so it is little wonder that Louis became not only the most common regnal name for later French kings, but also the most successful of all French names.  Not only was Chlodovech (and its many variant forms) borne by several early Frankish tribal kings and three 9th century Frankish kings, during the Middle Ages, it was also borne by six Holy Roman Emperors, twelve French kings, two kings of Hungary and two French saints (one was Louis IX of France (1214–1270) and one was bishop Louis of Toulouse (1274–1297)).  By the early modern period, variant forms of Chlodovech had firmly established themselves across Europe: Louis in France, Ludwig in Germany, Luis in Spain and Portugal and Luigi in Italy.  The Old French form Loois was introduced to Britain by the Normans and quickly became spelt phonetically in English as Lewis and Lowis. The Red Book of the Exchequer in Essex in 1166 mentions a Lowis le Briton and the Curia Regis Rolls of Rutland in 1205 record a cleric with the Latinised name Lodowicus.  However, Lewis was never common in the Middle Ages. It does not rank at all in George Redmonds' survey of 1000 names from ten English counties 1377-81 or later in Smith Bannister's rank of top 50 names from 1538 to 1700 in England. It does appear once in my survey of names used in Elizabethan Norfolk, which shows it was in some use, even though it was uncommon.  Lewis was at least used enough to create the surname Lewis, Lewes, Lowis, Lowes and Lewison, however. Significantly, Lewis was used from an early date in Wales as an anglicised form of Llewelyn. As patronymic system of being called "son of" (ap) was the norm in Wales, when English surnames were enforced, any man known as "ap Llewelyn" (i.e. son of Llewelyn) would have been 'translated' as Lewis, and eventually these became hereditary surnames. Even today, Lewis is still a very common surname in Wales*.  From the 16th century, the surname encouraged the use of the given name — particularly in Wales where the practice of doubling names (i.e. Evan Evans) and adopting surnames as first names, like the old patronymic tradition, was common.  A survey of personal names used in Glamorgan in the 1851 census puts Lewis at #18 overall and #14 among men born before 1800. Data from the 1881 census also shows that both the surname Lewis and the given name were most common in Wales.  Data from the Surname Atlas In 1714, Georg Ludwig, King of Hanover, became King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Louis was used to render Ludwig and thus his regnal name became George Louis. This, arguably, "introduced" Louis to Britain. However, rather than replacing Lewis, or being used alongside it, Louis and Lewis became amalgamated together for a long time. The reason for this is that the English pronunciation of Louis was not the French LOO-ee, but the anglicised LOO-is, just like Lewis. During the 18th and 19th century, Louis and Lewis were used interchangeably as spellings. For example, Prince Frederick of Wales, son of King George II, was known both as "Frederick Lewis"* and "Frederick Louis"* equally. Similarly, many census records from the 19th century record the same person as "Lewis" in one decade and "Louis" in another, demonstrating how Louis was pronounced as Lewis at this time.  Even E.G.Withycombe's Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (first published in 1945) puts Lewis and Louis together and notes that: "The French pronunciation is used in Lowland Scots e.g. Robert Louis Stevenson." The implication being that the English pronunciation of Louis at this time is not the same as the French one. Louie was used as a given name in the 19th century, but this was largely a girls name — a diminutive for Louisa and Louise.  It would be wrong, however, to conclude that Louis in the French pronunciation was not used in Britain, especially given that it was such a common French name (notably used by a further six French kings from the 17th-19th century), as author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) bears out.  Birth rankings for England and Wales in the 19th century show that Lewis was always the more common form, and gradually declined with the turn of the 20th century.    Lewis Louis 1850: 1860: 1870: 1880: 1890: 1900: 1904: 1914: 1924: 1934: #45  #46  #40 #49 #55 #62  #70 #78 #98 — #96 #73  #63 #57 #68 #80 #78 #79 — — Both Lewis and Louis fell out of the top 100 by 1934. Lewis returned to the top 100 in 1984 at #66 and was #22 in 1994. Louis returned in 1994 at #66.  Both Lewis and Louis have been in the top 100 in England and Wales ever since. Lewis peaked in 2001 at #10 and Louis reached a peak in 2004 at #38.  By the end of the 20th century, the French pronunciation of Louis became more common in Britain. However, even today, Louis is still pronounced as Lewis in some cases. Perhaps that is why the spelling Louie has risen sharply in the last two decades, and now outranks Louis itself.    Louis Louie Lewis 1996: 1997: 1998: 1999: 2000: 2001: 2002: 2003: 2004: 2005: 2006: 2007: 2008: 2009: 2010: 2011: 2012: 2013: 2014: 2015: #61 (1001 births) #54 (1325 births) #50 (1433 births) #49 (1397 births) #46 (1516 births) #39 (1864 births) #41 (1721 births) #41 (1699 births) #38 (1976 births) #43 (1611 births) #54 (1350 births) #60 (1338 births) #59 (1205 births) #66 (1067 births) #69 (957 births) #68 (961 births) #81 (815 births) #77(827 births) #68 (999 births) #78 (854 births) #255 (112 births) #206 (161 births) #152 (230 births) #144 (240 births) #141 (268 births) #127 (338 births) #116 (415 births) #111 (470 births) #91 (637 births) #107 (534 births) #102 (579 births) #96 (668 births) #93 (729 births) #84 (757 births) #74 (904 births) #74 (887 births) #79 (832 births) #71 (868 births) #67 (1015 births) #63 (1002 births) #24 (3569 births) #21 (4065 births) #18 (4518 births) #13 (4916 births) #13 (4574 births) #10 (4636 births) #14 (4273 births) #13 (4056 births) #14 (3850 births) #19 (3343 births) #21 (3238 births) #16 (3468 births) #14 (3482 births) #21 (3008 births) #27 (2565 births) #39 (2035 births) #43 (1654 births) #46 (1329 births) #46 (1236 births) #56 (1148 births) In French-speaking countries, Louis remains popular: #1 in Belgium, #4 in France and #12 in Switzerland.

Famous Bearers:

Royalty: * 18 Kings of France from 815-1830.  * 6 Holy Roman Emperors. * 10 Dukes and 3 Kings of Bavaria.  * 2 Kings of Holland. * 2 Kings of Hungary. * 1 King of Portugal * Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900-1979), born "Prince Louis of Battenberg," uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, British naval officer, last Viceroy of India (1947) and the first Governor-General of independent India (1947–48). Prince William (and -either directly or indirectly- Prince George) have Louis as a middle name in honour of him.  * Prince Louis of Cambridge (b.2018), second son of Prince William and fifth in line to the British throne. History: * Louis Gallodier (1734–1803), ballet master and choreographer. * Louis Spohr (1784–1859), German composer. * Louis Braille (1809–1852), inventor of braille. * Louis Vuitton (1821–1892), French fashion designer. * Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), French microbiologist and chemist. * Louis Sullivan (1856–1924), American architect. * Louis Blériot (1872–1936), French aviator and inventor. * Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941), racing driver and the founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. * Louis Jouvet (1887–1951), French actor and director. * Louis de Broglie (1892–1987), French physicist and Nobel Prize laureate. * Louis Calhern (1895–1956), American actor. * Louis Armstrong (1901–1971), American jazz musician. * Louis Leakey (1903–1972), British paleontologist. * Louis Jordan (1908–1975), pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician and songwriter. * Louis Van Lint (1909–1986), Belgian artist. Contemporary: * Louis C.K. (born 1967), American comedian. * Louis Theroux (born 1970), British television broadcaster. * Louis Smith (born 1989), British Olympic gymnast. * Louis Tomlinson (born 1991), British pop singer. * Louis Almond (born 1992), British footballer. Literature and Other Media: * Louis de Pointe du Lac, main character in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire. * Louis Tully, character in the "Ghostbusters" movies. * Captain Louis Renault, character in the film Casablanca.

Variants:

Louie, Lewis (English), Loïc (Breton), Luigi (Italian), Luis (Spanish, Portuguese)

Pronunciation:

LOO-ee (UK, France); LOO-is (UK) [key]

Possible diminutives:

Lou, Lee

Sibling Names:

Harriet     Amelia     Eleanor     Sophia     Matilda     Imogen  Oliver     Frederick     Charles     Hugo     Oscar     Albert

Name Lists:

European Royalty   Gorgeously Georgian   Victorian Darlings   Slim Softies   Bronte Names   Operatic Appellations

 

If you like Louis you may also like:   Harvey, Elliott, Stanley, Gabriel, Hugh, George, Albert, Sebastian, Philip, Leon

Thanks to Rach for requesting this name.