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Original poster

How would you pronounce Louis?

116 replies

Yibs · 20/02/2022 08:52

I'm a bit stuck as I love this for a baby name, but I have a name where my entire life I've had to correct, or begrudgingly ignore, my name being pronounced wrong.

I had a Mrs Louis teacher in school (pronounced Lewis)
One of my brothers friends was Louis (pronounced Lewis)
And in a job I had a few years ago I worked with a Louis (also pronounced Lewis!)

Dh never heard of this and says that it's pronounced Loo-ey which is how I want the name to be pronounced, but feel like there will be lots of people like me who have heard it pronounced Lewis more often than not

I want to pre-empt this by calling him Louie. I know a Louie who is in his early 30s now and I've known him since he was like 12 so it doesn't look odd to me, and it just takes the pronunciation issue out but my mum is saying it looks made up and weird.

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Lulu1919 · 20/02/2022 12:10

Loo eee

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 20/02/2022 11:57

Most European people will pronounce Louis the French way as in the French king or the third child of Prince William.

Americans may pronounce it Lewis.

It is something that probably only needs correcting once though as it isn't a tricky name.

curlingoneout · 20/02/2022 11:46

There's a child at school that spells it Loui 🙈

MrsEricBana · 20/02/2022 10:51

Agree lou-ee sound and spell it Louis not Louie.
Fwiw dd and I have ordinary names with most usual spelling and although people pronounce our names correctly they then make up any spelling they like e.g. Sally ---> Sally, Saly, Salli, Sali, Sallee, Sallii. People be daft.

Suzi888 · 20/02/2022 10:47

It’ll be a lifetime of correcting people.

deadlanguage · 20/02/2022 10:45

Definitely Loo-ee, never heard it pronounced any other way. Loo-iss is Lewis.

User310 · 20/02/2022 10:43

I’d pronounce it the same as you would ‘Louie’.

AuntieStella · 20/02/2022 10:43

Lou-ee (like the prince)

lucylucyapplejuicy · 20/02/2022 10:42

DS is Louis and we say 'loo-ey' and si does everyone else

Bethany7 · 20/02/2022 10:41

My nephew is Louis and pronounced Looey. As far As I'm aware he has never had lots of name mis pronunciations
He is late teens now

TerribleCustomerCervix · 20/02/2022 10:41

Picking a non-English name from a nearby country and then not using the actual pronunciation just makes people look daft.

Trinacham · 20/02/2022 10:39

Loo-E

BasiliskFace · 20/02/2022 10:39

I’d pronounce it Lou Ee . It wouldn’t occur to me that a Louis would be pronounced Lewis, I have never come across one pronounced that way (although I see from this thread lots are). Everyone I know whose name is pronounced Lewis is spelt Lewis. Not massively keen on Louie. All those vowels in a row! (My middle name is Louise which was hard enough to spell when I was five or six, I often spelt it Lousie)

BeeDavis · 20/02/2022 10:39

Funnily enough my 5 months old little boy is named Louis. We pronounce is Loo-ey, same as Prince Louis. Not gonna lie, we’ve had people pronounce it Lewis and I’ve had to correct them 🙄 so I feel he’ll have to correct people a few times in the future! Probably didn’t think it through choosing a name people may mispronounce! To be fair to us we were convinced we were having a girl so had the name set the whole pregnancy, we only picked the boy’s name 2 weeks prior to giving birth so we rushed it abit 🤣 but he’s our little Lou it really suits him x

DoubleTweenQueen · 20/02/2022 10:38

In France it would be Lou-ee
In US it would be 'Lewiis'
I have a South American friend who is Louis, pronounced 'Loo-eess'

So it's a great name but I don't see you getting away from different pronunciation.

NoSquirrels · 20/02/2022 10:36

@BluebellsGreenbells

Not sure why Louie looks weird to some? It’s like Louise for girls
This makes as much sense as saying Louis is like Louise for girls.

Except that Louis and Louise are traditional spellings, and Louie is not. People are saying it’s weird because it’s not the traditional spelling.

Svara · 20/02/2022 10:34

@BluebellsGreenbells

Not sure why Louie looks weird to some? It’s like Louise for girls
Just makes me think of Donald Duck's nephew or King Louie. Is it an American spelling if you want it to be pronounced Loo-ee?
PatterPaws · 20/02/2022 10:30

Pronunciation of Louis is the French way.

Now there is a Louis in the royal family, everyone in the UK will be aware of the correct pronunciation.

Nice name!

MindyStClaire · 20/02/2022 10:19

I'd say Lou-ee but wouldn't be surprised to be corrected to Lewis, it does seem like both are common usages.

Some names have multiple pronunciations or spelling, if that's something you want to avoid this might not be the name for you.

swirlsy · 20/02/2022 10:07

That's weird about Louis Armstrong - I always thought that was Loo-ey!

Apparently his mother pronounced it Lewis but the media commonly said Louie & he wasn't that bothered & didn't correct them.

BluebellsGreenbells · 20/02/2022 10:06

Not sure why Louie looks weird to some? It’s like Louise for girls

Peaseblossum22 · 20/02/2022 10:02

Loo-ey definitely, Have only come across Lewis when spelled Lewis .

User839516 · 20/02/2022 10:02

There’s lots of names I just wouldn’t use for this reason. Like Mia for a girl because people never know if it’s mee-ah or my-ah. Would drive me batty and I wouldn’t inflict that on my kid. But imo it should be pronounced loo-ee as in Louis Vuitton or Prince Louis of Cambridge. Lewis is like the isle or like John Lewis the shop. But there are so many other names to choose from that wouldn’t cause a lifetime of having to correct people!

BertieBotts · 20/02/2022 09:59

It can be pronounced both ways IME. I think officially it's Loo-ey but the Lewis pronunciation has become so widespread I think they are probably about equal.

That's weird about Louis Armstrong - I always thought that was Loo-ey!

Christmas1988 · 20/02/2022 09:55

Lewis