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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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CrimeaChimera · 20/02/2022 08:53

I pronounce it Loo-ey.

It's a nice name though either way!

GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 20/02/2022 08:55

I pronounce it lou-ee

DoNotTouchTheWater · 20/02/2022 08:55

I’d pronounce it loo-ee.

If you want people to pronounce it loo-is, spell it lewis.

LadyCluck · 20/02/2022 08:55

Loo-ey

hiraffe · 20/02/2022 08:56

It's Louis

as in Louis Vuitton, all those Kings of France. Prince Louis etc

icklekid · 20/02/2022 08:56

If you want it pronounced lewis I would just spell it lewis??! I would pronounce Louis as loo-ey

Afternoonteaandicecream · 20/02/2022 08:56

Lou-ee

OneTiredMam · 20/02/2022 08:56

Lewis

GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 20/02/2022 08:57

@DoNotTouchTheWater

I’d pronounce it loo-ee.

If you want people to pronounce it loo-is, spell it lewis.

She doesn't, she wants Lou-ee
Original poster
Yibs · 20/02/2022 08:57

@DoNotTouchTheWater

I’d pronounce it loo-ee.

If you want people to pronounce it loo-is, spell it lewis.

I want the opposite I want it pronounced Loo-ey but I've met so many with the same spelling pronounced Lewis I'm convinced I'm setting my child up for a life of correcting people
OP posts:
DoNotTouchTheWater · 20/02/2022 08:57

In which case, then the classic French spelling is perfect.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 20/02/2022 08:58

I wouldn't be surprised at a Louis pronouncing the name either Lou-ee or Loo-es. I'd probably guess at Louie if I didn't know.

Louie and Lewis give a clearer indication of pronunciation.

Beth13579 · 20/02/2022 08:58

Lou-ee. It's a fairly frequently-used name here in the SE, so I can't really imagine people having a problem with it.
Maybe it's different if you live elsewhere in the country?

LawnFever · 20/02/2022 08:58

Louis I would pronounce Loo-ee.

If you want to pronounce it Lewis spell it that way.

KylieCharlene · 20/02/2022 08:59

I've always pronounced Louis as Lou-ee but I can't see a problem with the Louie spelling at all to save any issues.

hiraffe · 20/02/2022 08:59

My French DH is Louis pronounced the correct way. No one had ever pronounced his name as Lewis.

Lonelycrab · 20/02/2022 08:59

Loo-ey

SardineJam · 20/02/2022 08:59

In the US they tend to pronounce Louis as Lewis, but I say it's pronounced Louie

NiceTwin · 20/02/2022 09:01

I would pronounce it Loo-ey but working in a school, many, many Louis's are pronounced Lewis.
I just don't get it 🤷🏻

NoSquirrels · 20/02/2022 09:02

I’d pronounce Louis Loo-ee.

Most people hear your name first (Loo-ee) or if not very quickly correct themselves when you point it out. I wouldn’t worry about this.

Both my DC have names that I genuinely wouldn’t have thought mis-pronounceable but they commonly are. I just think that’s ignorance and it’s momentary- it’s never been any sort of issue.

He’s more likely to have Louie misspelled all sorts of places as Louis (because that’s the correct spelling) so you’d just be swapping one issue for another anyway.

BeyondMyWits · 20/02/2022 09:02

Either way here. I know a couple of 16/17 year olds named Louis... one is called Looooooo-eeeeee, the other Lew-iss (I used to be a dinner lady a decade ago, and was always shouting across the field to stop one of them trying to escape... guess which😏... more attempts than Steve Mcqueen.)

OutlookStalking · 20/02/2022 09:02

Round here (south but not posh) the louis are all lew-is but I'd know that it could be lou-ie.

I think its one of those where you would be correcting. Although I do like Louie!

GoldenFondue · 20/02/2022 09:03

I'd say lou-ay if I seen it written down, even though the only Louis that I have met in real pronounced has name Lewis too.

What are your thoughts on Loïc? I loved that name, but too French for me to use without having any French connections I felt. French speakers I've heard would say Lew-eek but English speaking commentators (I first heard it in sports) would say low-ick and I even liked that too.

icklekid · 20/02/2022 09:03

Sorry misunderstood! I don’t know how else you would spell it to be pronounced Louis- maybe Louie like a previous poster suggested?

cushioncovers · 20/02/2022 09:04

Loo ee