Lousie
A feminine given name of Germanic origin meaning "renowned warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Lousie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lousie today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lousie births was 1918 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lousie. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Lousie is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lousies were born before 1959.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Lousie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1918
12 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1962 SSA rank
#6,275
Tracked since 1913
Census
Lousie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 337 people with the first name Lousie, which placed it at #27,242 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#27,242
National first-name rank
People counted
337
337 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lousie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lousie is White at 57.0%. The next largest groups are Black (23.1%) and Hispanic (8.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Lousie described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Lousie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.0% · 192
- Black or African American23.1% · 78
- Hispanic or Latino8.0% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.7% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 14
- Two or more races3.0% · 10
Popularity
Lousie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lousie from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 57 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lousie by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Lousie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lousies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lousie
The name Lousie is derived from the ancient Germanic name Hlodwig, which is composed of the elements "hlud" meaning "famous" and "wig" meaning "warrior" or "battle." It was later Latinized as Clovis and evolved into various forms in different languages, including Louise in French and Lousie in English.
The name gained prominence during the Middle Ages, particularly in France, where it was associated with several notable figures. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lousie can be found in the 13th century, when it was borne by Louise of Toulouse (1205-1270), a French noblewoman and the daughter of Count Raymond VI of Toulouse.
In the 14th century, Louise of Savoy (1476-1531) was a powerful figure in French politics and the mother of King Francis I of France. She played a significant role in the Italian Wars and acted as regent during her son's captivity.
The name continued to be popular among European royalty and nobility. Louise de La Vallière (1644-1710) was a French courtier and one of the most famous mistresses of King Louis XIV. She later became a nun and founded the Order of the Penitents.
In the literary world, Louise Labé (1520-1566) was a renowned French Renaissance poet and feminist figure, known for her defiant and passionate love poems.
Another notable bearer of the name was Louise Michel (1830-1905), a French anarchist and activist who played a significant role in the Paris Commune of 1871. She was known as the "Red Virgin" and spent many years in exile for her revolutionary activities.
These are just a few examples of the many remarkable women throughout history who bore the name Lousie. While its popularity has ebbed and flowed over the centuries, the name continues to be admired for its rich historical associations and enduring charm.
People
Lousie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lousie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lousie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lousie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lousie going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Lousie a common name?
We classify Lousie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lousie most popular?
The single biggest year for Lousie was 1918, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lousie is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lousie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 337 people with the name Lousie, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,242 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Lousie in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Lousie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lousie leans strongly female. 312 people counted with this name were female (93.1%), compared with 23 male bearers (6.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Lousie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lousie is White at 57.0%. The next largest groups are Black (23.1%) and Hispanic (8.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Lousie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lousie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.0% (192 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Lousie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lousie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lousie in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Lousie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lousie in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Lousie can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Lousie?
See how many Americans are named Lousie on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.