Louise

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Luiza in BR Brazil, GE Georgia, ES Spain and 5 more.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 11 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Louise is also recorded as 9 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name1.4M records spelled Louise4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Canada

  Also written Louïse

• a separate given name313K records spelled Louise3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Lou-Ise, Louíse

• Portuguese given name216K records spelled Louise6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, United Kingdom, Philippines

  Also written Louíse, Louisé, ̶L̶o̶u̶i̶s̶e̶, Loúisè

• Spanish given name206K records spelled Louise3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Philippines, Spain, Argentina

  Also written Louise'

• Danish given name175K records spelled Louise7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Denmark, United States, Sweden, Norway

  Languages: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian Bokmål

  Also written Louisé, Löüisë

• Finnish given name20K records spelled Louise3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States, United Kingdom, Sweden

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Louisé

• Polish given name11K records spelled Louise3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Louisé, Loúisè

• Italian given name10.0K records spelled Louise2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, San Marino, Canada

  Also written Löuise

• Indonesian given name9.5K records spelled Louise2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Philippines, United Kingdom

  Also written Löuise

92 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Louise is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In French, Feminine form of Louis, from Germanic Hludwig, 'famous battle'.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In French, Germanic feminine form meaning « glorious fighter ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In English, Feminine form of Louis; likely spread to Ireland from England. Irish Labhaoise suggests Louisa was an early form in Ireland.

  as a name·Irish first names

• French feminine form of jLouis, introduced to England in the 17th century. Short form: Lou.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In French, from the personal name Louise, feminine form of Louis.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Jeanne Calmentb. 1875FRnot in their usual nameFrench supercentenarian, person with the longest confirmed lifespan (1875–1997)
• Mary Pickfordb. 1892CAnot in their usual nameCanadian actress and producer (1892–1979)
• Rachel Carsonb. 1907USnot in their usual nameAmerican marine biologist and conservationist (1907–1964)
• Juliana of the Netherlandsb. 1909NLnot in their usual nameQueen of the Netherlands from 1948 to 1980 (1909-2004)
• Louise Bourgeoisb. 1911USFrench-American artist (1911-2010)
• Aretha Franklinb. 1942USnot in their usual nameAmerican singer, songwriter, and pianist (1942–2018)
• Quentin Bryceb. 1942AUnot in their usual name25th Governor-General of Australia
• Anne, Princess Royalb. 1950GBnot in their usual namedaughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
• Madonnab. 1958USnot in their usual nameAmerican singer (born 1958)
• Louise Brealeyb. 1979GBBritish actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,703 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Louise?

We estimate roughly 778 thousand people bear Louise (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Louise have the most bearers?

Louise is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled louise.

Where is Louise most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Louise is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 181 people — even though United Kingdom holds more of our records for it.

How common is Louise compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Louise is the 68th most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Louise a male or female name?

Louise is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Louise mean?

Recorded meaning: Feminine form of Louis, from hlod ‘glory’ + vig ‘battle’; used in European naming.