Name of the Day: Louisa
She’s a gentle antique with a literary vibe, but her spunky nicknames lend her a thoroughly modern air.
Thanks to Alicia and Kim for suggesting Louisa as Name of the Day.
Ladylike Louisa features in several Jane Austen novels and more than one Charles Dickens tale. Beloved writer Louisa May Alcott gave us the enduring Little Women and company. Louisa Adams was wife of President John Quincy Adams, and thus First Lady in the 1820s.
Factor in the name’s nineteenth century heyday, and no wonder Louisa conjures up images of a pinafore-clad girl in a sepia-toned portrait. Her Germanic origins and the meaning “famous warrior” keep her on the right side of dainty, but she’s undeniably a pretty, feminine choice.
She doesn’t appear in the historical record much before the eighteenth century, though Aloysius, Lewis and Louis are in use long before.
Current favorites like Emma, Grace and Ella were all big in the 1800s, too. It’s easy to imagine Louisa fitting right in on a modern playground, but Louisa has yet to make a comeback. Her last appearance in the US Top 1000 was in 1969.
The Latinate Louisa has always been an also-ran to the French Louise. In the 1910s, Louise made it into the US Top 20. During the Roaring Twenties, she was worn by silent screen style icon Louise Brooks. Today, Louise is a Top Ten pick in Belgium and popular in the UK, where she’s worn by the current Queen’s youngest granddaughter, Lady Louise Windsor. She’s yet to resurface in the US, where she’s more likely to bring up references to George and Weezy on The Jeffersons, but she ranked in the Top 1000 as late as 1991.
Throw in Luisa, a variant that looks Latina but is actually quite fashionable in Germany and the title of a Verdi opera, and you can find many a worthy inspiration. Athletes, poets, politicians, countesses and queens have all answered to some version of the name. During the seventeenth century the highly educated and well-connected Louise de Marillac was turned down for membership by a religious order. Years later, she co-founded the Daughters of Charity with St. Vincent de Paul. She, too, is considered a saint.
She makes for a versatile name, rich in possible diminutives, including:
- Lucy, currently ranked #112 in the US as an independent name;
- Lou, an option for a daughter suggested by trend-setting power couple Heidi Klum and Seal;
- Lulu, as in the 1960s singer, the cartoon and Ms. Brooks;
- Lula, which leans a little bit hick but also conjures up Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s;
- Lola, a stretch, maybe, but if you can’t imagine penning Dolores on the birth certificate, Louisa could be an alternative.
In the US, Louisa seems like the more fashionable choice, a substitute for parents disappointed to learn that their sister-in-law/neighbor/BFF has already used Sophia/Olivia/Isabella. Like Beatrice, Louisa is the kind of enduring choice that seems perfectly mainstream, even ordinary, but is actually quite unusual.
Filed under: Charles Dickens, Jane Austen Names, Literary Babes, Names for Girls, Names of the Day, Silver Screen | 28 Comments
Tags: Aloysius, Dolores, Ella, Emma, George, Grace, Isabella, Jane, Lewis, Lola, Lou, Louis, Louisa, Louise, Lucy, Luisa, Lula, Lulu, May, Olivia, Sophia, Weezy
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Thanks for covering Louisa!! It’s currently our top choice for a girl, mostly in honor of my husband’s grandfather, Lewis. I love the rhythm, the nicknames (especially Lou and Louie), the description from The Baby Name Wizard (“old fashioned warmth with intelligence”), the nods to Louisa May Alcott and Jane Austen. But no one I meet likes this name. My family HATES it. And my mother-in-law didn’t know how to pronounce it when she saw it written down. And when I throw in my favorite middle name, Louisa Frances, I really get laughs. Sigh. I love it so much, it might not matter to me.
Thanks again, Abby!
Louisa Frances is beautiful.
Thank you, Paul!
What Paul said!
And I know a little girl called Louisa, sister to Sophie, Max and Ida. Her mom calls her Lulu and you know, it really is the sweetest name.
Love Frances in the middle spot, too!
Wow, that is a pretty combination. Go for it!
Louisa Frances sounds great to me!
I didn’t realize Louisa isn’t even in the top 1000! It’s hard to find pretty girls names that aren’t common.
Thank you for the kind words!! Today when I directed my sister to this site to show off Louisa’s many charms, she told me I’d be torturing my daughter if I gave her this name. This is why you don’t discuss names before the birth, huh?
Half of the names I like, my sister makes fun of. The other half, she says are “her” names. You really can’t win! Louisa Frances is GORGEOUS. I can’t imagine any child being tortured for it in this day of Violets and Matildas. Use it!!!
LOL, Caroline! My other sister told me that I couldn’t “take all the names.” If we’d had a second boy, Matteo was a serious contender and I know she’d have been irritated if I’d used it.
And you’re exactly right – Sophia, Louisa, Matilda – they fit together perfectly. And with all the nickname options, Louisa would have LOTS of choices if she thought her full name was too much.
Oh, there was a knock-down, drag-out over ‘Tom.’ I picked it for a boy (when we had Phoebe 2 yrs ago), and my sister had a fit because ‘Tom’ was on her “Names I Like” list from the year 2000-she broke that thing out and proved it! She still gets mad when I bring it up (but I’m still using it!)
For what it’s worth, Kim, one of my sisters still refers to my kids’ names as Eurotrash. But it’s true – no one argues about the name once the babe is in your arms, at least not in FRONT of you.
I guess your sister has different name tastes than you! If I was thinking of names that would be torture, Louisa would certainly not be on that list.
I’m a fan of not discussing names with family (and even friends) until the baby is born and you introduce the chosen name.
My 15 month old daughter is Louisa Charlotte in honour of my father’s grandmother (Louisa) and my husband’s grandmother (Charlotte). Both beautiful, old fashioned but modern names. I think Louisa is a beautiful name and suits lovely little girls. I can’t believe anyone would say such a name would be a torture! Maybe something like Fifi, but not Louisa. It’s very elegant; good for a baby, a little girl, and a woman.
I hadn’t given any consideration to Louisa until just now, seeing it as a NOTD… and without much hesitation I can say I really do like it. (And FWIW, Kim W – Louisa Frances sounds absolutely lovely! Attached to a baby, others will come around, no doubt. My daughter’s name was not super-popular with my family at first, either, and now if someone doesn’t like it, they aren’t saying so.) Louisa takes the wheeze out of Louise (which, by the way, is the name of Ruby’s best friend on Max and Ruby) and is feminine without being frilly – add to that the list of nns Abby mentions and it’s a huge hit for me (I am such a sucker for Lucy and other Lu- type nns). Louis had appeared on our list for boy names, funny Louisa was never in the running on our girl names lists. Wow – now I can’t understand why it’s not more popular!
I adore Louisa’s many literary connotations and now, thanks to you, I can add Aloysius, the teddy bear of Sebastian in Brideshead Revisted! Love it!
Louisa is beautiful! I like it alot. I’d be most likely to use it as a middle name though, because I strongly dislike the nicknames for it.
Louisa made my LONG list because I once lived in an apartment on Louisa Street in Pittsburgh. The apartment was a dump and the street had seen better days.
But I LOVED saying and writing my address, which took some of the sting out of the collapsing ceiling over my roommate’s bed and the unreliable hot water heater.
I love Louisa! It’s definitely in my top 10 for girls, and I remember it mostly from The Sound Of Music. (The other girls were Liesl, Brigitta, Marta and Gretl.)
I love Louisa! Its beautiful and classic and easy to say and spell. I would use it in a minute!
Louisa is gorgeous!!
I prefer the full name simply because I’m not much of a nickname person. I must start recommending this name – I like it so much better than Louise.
I like the name Louisa much more than Louise…I think that extra syllable makes it sound more poetic. It definitely could fit in with all those Ellas, Sophias and Avas amongst today’s little ladies.
By the way, on the topic of nicknames, I have a friend named Louisa who goes by the nickname Isa.
My top choice for Beatrix actually! Got voted down, but I’m still hoping one of my girls will choose it for their child some day… not that I’ll interject.
It’s fabulous to see some love for my eldest daughter’s name. It was an easy coice for us, so I was surprised to find so very few babies and children named this. We think it’s perfect – and we’ve only had positive feedback from family. Maybe the key is to only discuss a chosen name after the birth.
Louisa Frances is divine!
I adore the name Louisa! I am pregnant with my second child (I have a son named Solomon), and if this one is a girl, Louisa Bess is the name I’m rallying for. It has such a warm, intelligent, antique feel, and it’s undiscovered and yet familiar sounding. What else could you ask for?!
I’m so glad to see Lucy as a possible nickname for Louisa! I’ve been mulling that possibility over in my head for ages but most that I’ve mentioned it to have looked at me like I was crazy. I don’t have a problem going against the grain since I do so love the nickname Lucy, but I was so longing for a little validation that it did make sense in this case!
SO happy to hear your thoughts on the name Louisa. My grandmother, Ann, recently passed away but she was from Louisa, Kentucky so we are definitely going with Louisa Ann…such a pretty little name!
What a lovely way to honor your grandmother, Lora!
Louisa Ann is gorgeous, Lora!