How popular is the baby name Louis in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Louis.

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Popularity of the baby name Louis


Posts that mention the name Louis

Baby name stories: Rielle & Riel

Métis leader Louis Riel (1844-1885)
Louis Riel

In October of 2008, a baby girl born in Ontario to parents Kimberly and Stephen MacDougall was named Rielle after female fighter pilot Riel Erickson, who’d been featured in the TV documentary Jetstream that year.

“It was just the way it rolled off her tongue, and having seen this woman and what she was doing and how she was competing against top pilots — the name came across in such a positive manner that it instilled a really good vibe.

“So when my wife threw it out there, we really didn’t even have to think about it.”

They thought the name was beautiful, feminine and distinctive, no easy feat, felt Kimberly, who is a teacher and wanted something unique.

The parents, both French-speakers, also appreciated the fact that reversing the syllables in Rielle produced elle rit, French for “she laughs.”

In an interview from around that time, Capt. Riel Erickson — whose call sign is “Guns” — was asked about the story behind her name:

I was named after Louis Riel. My mother learned of his story from the local native community when she was growing up. She believed strongly in his story so decided that she would name her child after him. I grew up knowing his story and love the fact that I’m named after him. I love having such meaning in my name. It’s so much a part of my identity, knowing that story. I guess that’s why I feel so overwhelmed by someone naming their child after me. My namesake has certainly influenced me.

Louis Riel was a Canadian politician of Métis descent.

What do you think of the baby name Riel/Rielle? Which spelling to you prefer?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from LouisRiel1878 (public domain)

Baby name story: Guadalupe

In 1956, a near-miracle happened in East Los Angeles.

On September 3rd, in the home Louis Acosta, the glass protecting a framed print of Our Lady of Guadalupe accidentally broke. After Louis and his pregnant wife Celia cleaned up the broken glass, they separated the print from its paper backing, which was white — at first. “Inside of 20 minutes it had turned dark brown and the image of the Virgin had appeared,” Louis said.

Word of the image quickly spread around the predominantly Mexican-American community. (Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico.) Over the next week, hundreds of people flocked to the Acosta house, day and night — “some carrying candles and money offerings” — to pray before the image. Newspapers reported on September 7th that an estimated “2,000 persons had crowded the home in the past two days” and that sheriff’s deputies had been called for help.

Art experts and a local priest soon agreed that there was a natural explanation for the image’s appearance, and so it was not a miracle.

Still, the event was inspirational enough to be commemorated in a name. Celia gave birth to a baby boy on the September 8th, and the Acostas decided to name him Guadalupe, in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Sources:

Baby name story: Louis Francis

The 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, which commemorated the Louisiana Purchase, included “anthropological exhibits” — essentially, various groups of indigenous people put on display. These exhibits included Apaches, “Eskimos” (Tlingits), African Pygmies, and the Ainu of Japan.

One particularly popular exhibit was the 47-acre Philippine Exposition, which featured over 1,000 Filipinos from at least 10 different ethnic groups. (The fair was held soon after the Philippines had become an unincorporated territory of the U.S. following the Philippine-American War* (1899-1902), which itself followed the Spanish-American War.)

On July 6, a Filipino baby boy was born at the Philippine Exposition. When he was christened several weeks later, David R. Francis — the president of the fair (and the former governor of Missouri) — acted as godfather.

The boy’s full name? Louis Francis Silva, first and middle names “in honor of St. Louis and President Francis,” respectively.

Sources:

Image: Philippine Exposition pamphlet

*The military governor of the Philippines from from 1901 to 1902 was Adna Romanza Chaffee, Sr. — the father of Adna Romanza Chaffee, Jr., after whom Fort Chaffee was named.

Popular baby names in France, 2019

Flag of France
Flag of France

According to France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), the most popular baby names in the country last year were (again) Emma and Gabriel.

Here are France’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2019:

Girl Names

  1. Emma, 3,944 baby girls
  2. Jade, 3,820
  3. Louise, 3,752
  4. Alice, 3,294
  5. Lina, 2,948
  6. Chloé, 2,862
  7. Rose, 2,704
  8. Léa, 2,689
  9. Mila, 2,681
  10. Ambre, 2,654

Boy Names

  1. Gabriel, 4,987 baby boys
  2. Léo, 4,653
  3. Raphaël, 4,454
  4. Arthur, 4,005
  5. Louis, 3,947
  6. Lucas, 3,737
  7. Adam, 3,668
  8. Jules, 3,542
  9. Hugo, 3,493
  10. Maël, 3,383

In the girls’ top 10, Ambre replaced Anna.

The boys’ top 10 includes the same 10 names, but in a different order.

Finally, names that saw notable increases in usage from 2018 to 2019 include:

  • Girl names: Joy, Arya, Octavia, Nola, Liyah, Chelsea
  • Boy names: Tiago/Tyago, Ayden, Owen

Sources: Classement des prénoms en France depuis 1900 – Insee, Prénoms des Français: Emma et Gabriel bientôt détrônés?

Image: Adapted from Flag of France (public domain)