Louis is the French form of the Old Frankish given name Chlodwig and one of two English forms, the other being Lewis (/ˈluːɪs/).

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".[unreliable source?]

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

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)
  • Mongolian: Луиза (Luiza)
  • Nepali: लुइस (Lu'isa)
  • Norwegian: Lovise
  • Persian: لوئیس
  • Polish: Ludwika, Luiza
  • Portuguese: Luisa, Luiza
  • Romanian: Luiza
  • Serbian: Луиз (Luiz)
  • Slovak: Alojzia
  • Slovene: Alojzija
  • Spanish: Luisa, Luisana, Luisel, Luisina, Luisita
  • Swedish: Lovisa, Lova
  • Tamil: லூயிஸ் (Lūyis)
  • Telugu: లూయిస్ ( Lūyis)
  • Thai: หลุยส์ (H̄luys̄̒)
  • Ukrainian: Луїза (Luyiza)
  • Urdu: لوئیس

Arts and entertainment

Politics

Royalty

Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Germany

Kings of France

Other French royalty

Kings of Etruria

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

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

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

Grand-Duke of Berg

  • Louis, Grand Duke of Berg from 1809 to 1813, also King of Holland as Louis II

Grand-Dukes of Hesse

Duke of Savoy

Duke of Württemberg

Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

Science and innovation

Sports

Others

Fictional characters

  • Dr. Louis Faraday, a character in the 1986 American science fiction adventure movie Flight of the Navigator
  • Louis, a character in the American sitcom television series Kate & Allie
  • Louis, a protagonist of the Japanese manga series Beastars
  • 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 Creed, the protagonist in Stephen King's 1983 novel Pet Sematary and its 1989 and 2019 film adaptations
  • Louie Duck, Disney character
  • Louis Gara, a character in the 2013 American black comedy crime movie Life of Crime
  • Louis Huang, character played by Randall Park in Fresh Off the Boat
  • Louis Litt, character played by Rick Hoffman in Suits
  • Louis Michaelson, a character played by Fred Savage in the 1986 American fantasy drama film The Boy Who Could Fly
  • Louis Tully, character played by Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II
  • Louis Wu, character in the Ringworld books by Larry Niven
  • Louis, one of the protagonists of Left 4 Dead
  • Louis, a Knight from Fire Emblem: Engage
  • Louis Guiabern, the main antagonist of Metaphor: ReFantazio
  • Louis, a shopkeeper in Fields of Mistria

See also