louis or louie ?

[bethjoanne]

hi i love the name louie/louis for a boy.
which spelling do you prefer?

[bigbluebump]

I think Louis looks nicer than Lewis and works better in other languages, whether pronounced the French (Lou-ie) or English/Germanic (Lou-is) way.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

I would say spell it Louis. I honestly never knew that anyone other than Americans said Lewis not Loo-ee! In terms of English as a first language countries I mean.

sonny Lewis also works in Welsh,as it is a Welsh name,actually. And we all manage with Ewelina as it is spelt in various different countries,I'm sure Germans etc can get their heads around Lewis.

[sonniboo]

But Lewis only works in English. A German/Swede/Dutch would pronounce it Leh-vis. Louis, on the other hand, would be pronounced Lou-is, as it is written.

(and Louie would always be Lou-ie, in all languages).

[mathanxiety]

Louis. Pronounced Louie. Lewis is another name entirely.

[sonniboo]

Of course Louis can be pronounced phonetically as Lou-is, just like Thomas is pronounced Thom-as.

Just because the French don't pronounce their 's' (and say Thom-a) doesn't mean the rest of us can't . As poppy said, Louis is a popular name in Germany where it is pronounced Lou-is, just as it is in the US.

[KatyAnn28]

My DN is Lewis. I would always pronounce Louis "Loo-ee" unless told otherwise.

[DejaB00]

Louis is Loo-ee
If you want a Loo-is then spell it Lewis.
Yes poppydaisy they are wrong. I work with dozens of foreign people and I always make sure that I know how to pronounce their names from day 1. It's not difficult and it's common courtesy.

[poppydaisy]

So all the Swedes, Norweigans, Dutch, Germans, Swiss that pronounce Louis as Lou-is are wrong ?!

And are we Brits wrong for pronouncing many foreign names with an English accent and pronunciation?

And are the French wrong for pronouncing English names in a French way?

[LemonBreeland]

Louis, yes there are some who will say Lewis, but it is wrong.

[poppydaisy]

I know an (English) Louis pronounced Lou-is as well as one whose parents prefer the French way, Lou-ee. If you want the French pronunciation, it might be safer to go with Louie - no confusion there .

[annasophia]

Yes, absolutely people should spell and pronounce their however they want!

Some of the comments earlier in the thread, suggesting that there is only ONE way of pronouncing Louis correctly and that anyone who pronounces it the non-French way was an 'idiot', seem very narrow minded imo.

[SomersetONeil]

I'd say the jury's out on Louis Armstrong. He may have pronounced it once as Lou-is in Hello Dolly, but there's a strong chance, this being pre-Civil Rights, that he was just told to pronounce it the way other people thought it was pronounced.

In any case, all his peers pronounced it Lou-ee. YouTube Ella Fitzgerald singing Mac the Knife, and she pronounces it Lou-ee, as just one example. Plus, it's slightly odd that he's known worldwide as Lou-ee Armstrong, his friends, family, peers and musicians all called him Lou-ee, and yet the one example of Lou-is in Hello Dolly is trotted out as if this is definitive proof that he was Lou-is and not Lou-ie.

People should call their kids what they want, and spell it however they want, but it seems a bit obtuse to use Louis Armstrong as the case for pronouncing it Lou-is.

[deste]

My DF is a Louis pronounced Lou-ee but for some reason his sisters called him Lewis.

[Viviennemary]

Of course. Once I was told how a child and or his/her parents wanted a name pronounced then I'd pronounce it that way.

[Buglove]

Well seems I'm in the minority but I have a Louie, I didn't want to be forever correcting or pronouncing. I love it

[Ouchdownthere]

I have a Louis, pronounced Louie. More often than not pronounced Lewis in Dr surgery etc. Must admit didn't cross my mind that would be the case.

Having a name myself that can be pronounced two different ways I might have reconsidered choosing Louis, I hate having to always correct people on how my name is pronounced and often just let it go if they dont pronounce the 'right' way after one correction. That said, I love the name Louis still and Lewis ain't bad either.

[edwardrocks]

I have a Lewis , often known as Louis/louie. We were pleased to find out my great grand father in Scotland was christened Lewie. Another option or more confusion?

[annasophia]

Seems that some Brits like to sound 'French' . (The French, on the other hand, would never NOT Frenchify an English name !)

The rest of the world, however, seems quite happy to pronounce Louis the phonetic way.

[Viviennemary]

I was also thinking about that song Meet Me in St Louis. The musical was on TV not long ago. And pronounced Lou-ie. I would never dream of pronouncing Louis as Lewis. Lewis is a completely different name.

[annasophia]

We have a Louis and pronounce it Louis (with the s). I wouldn't call us idiots . And I wouldn't assume that most people would pronounce the name the French way. It is quite a popular boys name in Germany currently where everyone pronounces it as Lou-is.

[fromo]

I know 5 Louis-s. All pronounced Louie and all British. Don't like the look of Louie.

[sonniebonnie]

Of course Louis Vuitton, being French, is pronounced the French way - I bet most non-French couldn't spell Louis Vuitton correctly, though!

St Louis is generally said LEWIS and Louis Armstrong calls himself LEWIS
in the song Hello Dolly in the refrain HELLO DOLLY , THIS IS LOUIS{LEWIS}
DOLLY.