girl's name
Louisa
loo-EE-zuh
- Origin Germanic
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 50,069
the United States
#694
2025 births
Louisa is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior," a Latinate form of Louise. It ranks 123rd in France and 694th in the United States, and it is rising in our data with a peak in 2021.
- Louisa is a name of Germanic origin.
- Peaked in 2021, when 424 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 8,146 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Louisa over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,420 |
| 1890s | 1,272 |
| 1900s | 993 |
| 1910s | 1,619 |
| 1920s | 1,770 |
| 1930s | 1,227 |
| 1940s | 1,284 |
| 1950s | 1,442 |
| 1960s | 1,371 |
| 1970s | 1,005 |
| 1980s | 1,072 |
| 1990s | 1,084 |
| 2000s | 1,154 |
| 2010s | 2,939 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,285 |
What Louisa means
Louisa means famous warrior, from Germanic elements meaning fame and battle. Both halves are emphatic — hlud is loud or renowned and wig is war — so the name states the same idea twice rather than qualifying it.
Where Louisa comes from
Louisa is a Latinate feminine of Louis, from the Frankish Chlodovech — hlud, fame, and wig, battle — the name of the first king to unite the Franks, baptized around 500 and remembered as Clovis. That name became the royal name of France, borne by eighteen kings, and its feminine forms spread with them. Louisa is the English and German spelling and Louise the French one, and the two have been used interchangeably for three centuries. Its literary weight comes from Louisa May Alcott, whose Little Women in 1868 remains among the most-read American novels; her own first name was after an aunt. The name is unrelated to Luisa in Spanish and Italian only in spelling — those are the same name again, taken from the same Frankish source through Latin.
Louisa in use
Louisa ranks 123rd in France with about 420 births in 2025 and 694th in the United States, and it is rising in our data with a peak in 2021 — a vintage name on the way back rather than a new one. Our records carry it from 1880. It appears in every market we hold except Northern Ireland, which is unusual for a name of this size.
How popular is Louisa?
In 2025, Louisa was given to 407 babies in the United States, ranking #694 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Louisa is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Louisa is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Louïsa | Louïsa is a rare spelling of Louisa, written with a diaeresis and recorded about 40 times, mostly in France. | 40 |
| Lou-Isa | Lou-Isa is Louisa written with a hyphen, recorded mostly in France. | 5 |
Names that peaked alongside Louisa
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Louisa also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Louisa over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
3 nicknames for Louisa
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Louisa in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Louisa
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Louisa — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Louisa
What does the name Louisa mean?
Louisa means "famous warrior," from Germanic elements meaning fame and battle.
Is Louisa the same as Louise?
Yes — Louisa is the Latinate spelling and Louise the French one. Both are feminines of Louis.
Is Louisa a French name?
The source is Frankish and it ranks 123rd in France, though the -a spelling is English and German.
How popular is Louisa?
123rd in France and 694th in the United States.
Is Louisa a girl's or a boy's name?
Louisa is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Louisa?
Louisa has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Louisa?
Louisa is usually shortened to Lou, Louie and Lulu.
Is Louisa a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Louisa currently ranks #123 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.