Louis ( in French, in British English or in American English) is the
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
and
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
form of the
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
given nameA given name is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
LudwigLudwig is an Old High German given name. Etymologically, the name can be traced back to the Germanic name Hludwig, composed of Hlud/Hluth meaning "famous", and Wig meaning "warrior".Ludwig may refer to several notable persons:In art:...
; another
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
variant is spelt
Lewis. The German name is composed of the words for "fame" (
hlud) and "warrior" (
wig) which may be translated to
famous warrior or "famous in battle".
Louis was the name of 17 kings of France, including Louis IX (Saint Louis) who led two crusades, and Louis XIV (the
Sun King) who was the ruler of France during the height of its power, the builder of the Palace of Versailles, and the longest reigning monarch in the history of Europe.
Louis ( in French, in British English or in American English) is the
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
and
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
form of the
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
given nameA given name is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
LudwigLudwig is an Old High German given name. Etymologically, the name can be traced back to the Germanic name Hludwig, composed of Hlud/Hluth meaning "famous", and Wig meaning "warrior".Ludwig may refer to several notable persons:In art:...
; another
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
variant is spelt
Lewis. The German name is composed of the words for "fame" (
hlud) and "warrior" (
wig) which may be translated to
famous warrior or "famous in battle".
Overview
Louis was the name of 17 kings of France, including Louis IX (Saint Louis) who led two crusades, and Louis XIV (the
Sun King) who was the ruler of France during the height of its power, the builder of the Palace of Versailles, and the longest reigning monarch in the history of Europe. Rendered fashionable by the Carolingians’ (Dauzat) in 751 -987 AD.
In the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
this was the hereditary
given nameA given name is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
of
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
nobles who claimed descent from
ClovisClovis was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one king. He also introduced Christianity. He was the son of Childeric I and Basina. At age 16, he succeeded his father, in the year 481...
(another version of the same name), the first king of the
FranksThe Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul...
. One such family were the Bourbons, who provided kings of France from 1589 to 1789. In
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
speaking countries the anglicized version
LewisLewis is a surname. It has more than one possible origin. One is the anglicised version of the personal forename Louis that has, through patronymics, also come to be used as a surname. The other is derived from the Germanic given name Lewis, meaning "renowned, famous battle", and is of Welsh origin...
is sometimes used.
Variant forms
- Basque
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is the mother tongue of approximately one fifth of Basques, 632,000 out of nearly 3,000,000...
- Aloxi, Koldobika, Luki
- Catalan
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencià , as well as in the city of Alghero on the Italian island of...
- Lluís
- Catalan Femenine - Lluïsa
- Czech
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. Czech is similar to and mutually intelligible with Slovak and, to a lesser extent, to Polish and Sorbian. - Official status :Czech is widely...
- Ludvík
- Danish
Danish is one of the North Germanic languages , a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken by around 6 million people, mainly in Denmark; the language is also used by the 50,000 Danes in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany where it holds the...
- Ludvig
- Dutch
Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
- Lodewijk, Lode, Lowie
- English
English is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
- LewisLewis is a surname. It has more than one possible origin. One is the anglicised version of the personal forename Louis that has, through patronymics, also come to be used as a surname. The other is derived from the Germanic given name Lewis, meaning "renowned, famous battle", and is of Welsh origin...
, LewesLewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and gives its name to the Local government district in which it lies. The settlement has a long history as a bridging point and as a market town, and is today an important communications hub, and tourist-orientated town.-History:The site that is...
, Lewie, or Lew; Ludovic
- Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887. The word esperanto means "one who hopes" in the language itself...
- Ludoviko
- German
German is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
- Ludwig, Alois
- Greek
Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
- Λουδοβίκος (Loudovikos) , feminine Λουίζα (Louiza)
- Hawaiian
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...
- Lui
- Hungarian
Hungarian is a Uralic language unrelated to most other languages in Europe. It is mainly spoken in Hungary and by the Hungarian minorities in the seven neighbouring countries...
- Lajos
- Irish
Irish is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now only spoken natively by a small minority of the Irish population but also plays an important symbolic role in the life of the Irish state, and is used...
- Alaois, Alabhaois, Lughaidh
- Italian
Italian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
- LuigiLuigi is a Nintendo video game character, younger brother of Mario.Luigi may also refer to:*Luigi , Italian given name -Fictional characters:* Luigi , 1959 Fiat 500 in the Pixar movie Cars...
, Lodovico, LudovicoLudovico is an Italian name given to males. It is sometimes spelled Lodovico.It may refer to:-In religion:* Ludovico Bertonio , Italian Jesuit missionary* Ludovico of Casoria , Italian Franciscan monk* Ludovico Donato Ludovico is an Italian name given to males. It is sometimes spelled Lodovico.It...
- Italian Feminine - Luisa, Luigia, Eloisa, Ludovica
- Latin - Ludovicus, Aloysius
- Polish
Polish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
- Ludwik
- Polish Feminine - Ludwika, Luiza
- Portuguese
Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
- Luís (Luiz is an archaic form) or Ludovico
- Portuguese Feminine - Luísa (Luíza is an archaic form), Ludovica or Heloísa
- Spanish
Spanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
- Luis ([lu'is] or ['lwis])
- Swedish
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
- Ludvig
- Norwegian
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants ...
- Ludvig
- Norwegian Feminine - Lovise, Louise
- Welsh
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh border and in the Welsh immigrant colony in the Chubut Valley in Argentine Patagonia....
- Llewelyn or Llewellyn Definition - In the likeness of a lion.
Masculine
- Louis - Definition - War famous and/or famed warrior
- Louÿs - Occitan-inspired form
- Loïc - Very frequent Breton
The Breton language is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France.-History:Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish,...
form
- Ludovic
- Loual - A name invented by combining Louis and Albert.
- Loewy - A variant form of Loeb
- Lourent - A variant form of Loanda, or Luanda name invented by combining Lou
- Clovis - From the Germanic Chlodwig, a variant of Hlodwig
Feminine
- Louise - French feminine form of Louis
-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...
.
- Louisa
-Places:Australia* Louisa Island Canada* Louisa or Lac-Louisa, a community in Wentworth, QuebecUnited States* Louisa, Kentucky* Louisa, Virginia* Louisa County, Iowa* Louisa County, Virginia-Other:...
, Éloïse-Music:* "Eloise" , a song by Paul Ryan, first recorded by Barry Ryan, covered by The Damned and others* "Eloise" * Eloise * Eloise, an opera by Karl Jenkins* Dear Eloise, a 1967 song by The Hollies...
, HéloïseHeloise may refer to:* Heloise , student of Abelard* Heloise , advice columnist* Heloise, a main cartoon character from the show Jimmy Two-Shoes...
, LiseLise is a variant of Lisa:*Lise Meitner*Lise Myhre , Norwegian cartoonist*Lise Thériault*Lise Thibault*Lise McCleerey international real estate trainerIt may also refer to:*Claude Lise...
, Luise - Feminine form variants.
- Louvenia - A name invented by combining the masculine Louis and a form of Lavinia.
- Louelle or Luelle - meaning origin uncertain
- Loudelle - A hybrid name crated by combining Lou (Louise) with Elle or Delle.
- Lovise or Lovis - A Scandinavian-inspired variety.
Unisex
- Louison as a surname or nickname for people named Louis and Louise, cf. Louison Bobet
Louis Bobet was a French professional road cyclist. He was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, from 1953 to 1955...
(man), Louison MoreauLouise 'Louison' Moreau was a French operatic soprano who belonged to the Académie Royale de Musique, also a popular celebrity commonly referred to as one of the 'filles de l'opéra'.-Opera career:...
(woman)
Carriers of the name
Notable people bearing this name include:
- Many European kings
- Louis René Édouard, cardinal de Rohan
Louis René Édouard, cardinal de Rohan , prince de Rohan-Guemenée, was a French bishop of Strasbourg , politician, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, and cadet of the Rohan family...
(1734–1803), French religious leader & politician
- Louis de Broglie, French physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
- Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, American jazz musician
- Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the later years...
, pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician and songwriter
- Louis Walsh
Louis Walsh is an Irish music manager and judge on the British television talent show The X Factor....
, Irish popular music manager and minor celebrity
- Louis Logic
Louis Logic is a New York City based underground hip-hop MC. He is a former member of the Demigodz, appearing on a number of tracks on their first album. He has also released albums as a solo artist, and as The Odd Couple with Jay Love. He has recently made his arrangement with longtime producer J.J...
, American underground rapper
- Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of disease. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies. His experiments supported the germ...
, French microbiologist and chemist
- Louis Wirth
Louis Wirth was an American sociologist and member of the Chicago school of sociology.-Life:Louis Wirth was born in the small village of Gemünden im Hunsrück, Germany. He was one of seven children born to Rosalie Lorig and Joseph Wirth. Gemünden was a pastoral community, and Joseph Wirth earned a...
, American sociologist
- Louis Leakey
Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey was a Kenyan archaeologist and naturalist whose work was important in establishing human evolutionary development in Africa. He also played a major role in creating organizations for future research in Africa and for protecting wildlife there...
, British paleontologist
- Louis Jani
Louis Jani is a judoka from Canada, who represented his native country at two consecutive Summer Olympics: 1984 and 1988. He had unfortunately missed the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to Canada's boycott. Louis twice won the gold medal at the Pan American Games in the middleweight division...
, Canadian judoka
- Louis van Gaal
Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal is a Dutch football manager currently in charge of the German club Bayern Munich.-Career:...
, Dutch football (soccer) player and coach
- Louis Saha
Louis Laurent Saha is a French international footballer. He plays for the English Premier League club Everton.-Metz:Louis Saha began his career with Metz in 1996, before going on loan to Newcastle United in 1999...
, French professional soccer player
- Louis Wain
Louis Wain was an English artist best known for his drawings, which consistently featured anthropomorphised large-eyed cats and kittens. In his later years he suffered from schizophrenia, which, according to some psychologists, can be seen in his works.- Life and work :Louis William Wain was...
, painter
- Louis Rukeyser
Louis Richard "Lou" Rukeyser was an American financial journalist, columnist, and commentator, through print, radio, and television....
, U.S. business columnist, economic commentator, and television personality
- Louis Chevrolet
Louis-Joseph Chevrolet , of French descent was a race car driver and co-founder Louis-Joseph Chevrolet (December 25, 1878, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland – June 6, 1941, Detroit, Michigan), of French descent was a race car driver and co-founder Louis-Joseph Chevrolet...
, racing driver and the founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company
- Louis Gerstner, former Chairman and CEO of IBM corporation
- Louis L'Amour
Louis L'Amour was an American author. L'Amour's books, primarily Western fiction , remain popular, and most have gone through multiple printings...
, American author of Western fictionWestern fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century...
- Louis Sachar
Louis Sachar is an American author of children's books who is best known for the Sideways Stories From Wayside School book series and the 1998 novel Holes, for which Sachar won a National Book Award and the Newbery Medal...
, American author of children's books
- Louis Riel
Louis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald...
, Canadian politician, a founder of Manitoba, and leader of the Métis
- Louis Braille
Louis Braille was the inventor of braille, a world-wide system used by blind and visually impaired people for reading and writing. Braille is read by passing the fingers over characters made up of an arrangement of one to six embossed points...
, inventor of braille
- Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan is the National Representative of the Nation of Islam. He is an advocate for black interests, and a critic of American society...
, Afro-American social leader
- Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet, also known as Louis Joliet , was a French-Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America. Jolliet and missionary Father Jacques Marquette, a Catholic priest, were the first white men to explore and map the Mississippi River.-Early life:Jolliet was born in 1645 in a...
, French explorer, one of the first Europeans to reach the northern part of the Mississippi River
- Louis Saravolatz
Dr. Louis Saravolatz is a medical doctor at St. John's Hospital of Macomb County, Michigan. He specializes in infectious disease medicine and internal medicine, specifically in HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and urinary tract infections....
, American physician
- Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton, or shortened to LV, is an international French fashion house specializing in trunks, leather goods, ready-to-wear, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, sunglasses, and books. Known the world over for its iconic LV monogram and logo,...
, French fashion designer
- Louis Michel
Louis H. O. Ch. Michel is a Belgian Member of European Parliament. Before that, he served as European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid until July 2009...
, Commissioner responsible for Development and Humanitarian Aid.
- Louis Calabro
Louis Calabro, was an Italian American orchestral composer.Calabro studied piano and composition at Juilliard School of Music. Vincent Persichetti was his principal teacher there....
, Toronto artist and DJ
- Lou Costello
Louis Francis "Lou" Costello was an American actor and comedian best known as half of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott...
, American comedian
- Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig was an American baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s, chiefly remembered for his prowess as a hitter, his consecutive games-played record and its subsequent longevity, and the pathos of his farewell from baseball at age 36, when he was stricken with a fatal disease...
, American baseball player
- Lou Brock
Louis Clark "Lou" Brock is an American former player in Major League Baseball. Brock was a left fielder who played his career with the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. He batted and threw left-handed. He is currently a special instructor coach for the St...
, American baseball player
- Lou Boudreau
Louis "Lou" Boudreau was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970...
, American baseball player and manager
- Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
, American musician
- Lou Ferrigno
Louis "Lou" Jude Ferrigno is an American bodybuilder and actor. Ferrigno has appeared in such television series and movies as Bill Bixby's bulky alter ego, The Hulk, in The Incredible Hulk, Pumping Iron, Sinbad of the Seven Seas, Hercules, and most recently in the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man. He...
, American bodybuilder and actor
- Lou Diamond Philips, American actor
- Louis Caron, a backup musician for The Platters