How would you pronounce “Louis”?

[MrsW32]

We are really feeling the name Louis for our little boy. However we wanted a name that wouldn’t cause any confusion when pronouncing it due to me having a life long issue with my own name being constantly mispronounced and I don’t want to inflict that on him. But we really love Louis and to pronounce it as “Louie” but I really don’t like the spelling Louie.

We have 2 other names in the mix Jude and Leo which we both love and will not have the above issue, but just don’t have the edge that Louis does!

I’ve included a poll too 😅

Any opinions?

My friend has one. He’s Lou-ee

I would default to lou-ee but would happily be corrected to loo-iss. I think it's like picking Helena or Naomi - you have your preferred pronunciation but the DC will get the others from time to time so you have to be ok with that and try teach them to be ok with it.

How else do you pronounce Naomi?

I do know someone called Louis whose name is pronounced "Lewis" but that is unusual

Nigh-oh-me or Nay-oh-me?

Louis was my dad's name. He pronounced it Lou-ee.

Loo-ee

I pronounce Louis as "Lou-ie".

Lewis is a totally different name. I don't think I many would muddle the two.

Louis - loo-ee
Lewis - lew-is

How you spell it dictates how you pronounce it

You just introduce your baby with the pronunciation you prefer.

@@Keleshey only ever heard Nay

Anyone who only sees it written down won’t know if it’s Lou-ee or Lew-iss, but they’ll ask, get the answer and that’s it. It won’t get commonly mispronounced in any annoying sense, I’d say. Both my DC have ‘say it as you see it’ names, but I’m always surprised by how many people will get them wrong anyway! It’s never been a source of frustration, though.

Louis can be pronounced either way. Lewis is the anglicised version. The Louie spelling is used to prevent confusion.

Our very own Louie is spelt Louie for this very reason. So it's always said correctly.

I read it as lew is

The Louie spelling is used to prevent confusion.

the majority aren’t confused though.

I’m a teacher and would say it’s fairly evenly split between the two pronunciations for Louis.

Our very own Louie is spelt Louie for this very reason. So it's always said correctly.

but some people will just think you don’t know the correct spelling won’t they?

Definitely pronouced Lou-ee!

Same

Agree with this.

Louie is a modernised mis-spelling which has made it to the mainstream. It sets my teeth on edge tbh!

Louis is the correct spelling for the name, and the correct pronunciation is Lou-ee in line with its French origin.

Is it a class thing I wonder as it’s a common name in aristocracy & amongst the upper classes. They would never read it as Lewis.

I have Louis (pronounced Loo-ee). I’d absolutely loved the name for years, but was also worried about the Lewis pronunciation. We went for it anyway and it’s really not been much of an issue. When he first started school they confirmed pronunciation, and he very very occasionally gets called Lewis, but it’s really not a big issue and doesn’t seem to bother him in the slightest.

Looo eeee

I have also met some people who pronounce it as Lewis.

I’d assume Louie

the only Louis I know of where it’s pronounced Lewis is the gymnast Louis Smith

I teach and have come across it spelt as u state and pronounced Lewis. I would say Louis- the French way. I would advise people to.give a name without any doubt- embarrassing for others and must be annoying for the child.