How common is the name Louis?

183,365 people in the United States have the first name Louis, about 1 in 1,647. It ranks #303 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

LOUIS

#303

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
183,365
About
1 in 1,647
This common or more
49.2%
Who bears it

Of the 183,365 people named Louis, 64.6% reported their origin as White, 17.9% as Hispanic or Latino and 12.3% as Black. 99.1% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Louis peaked in 1921, when 7,296 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1921
Births that year
7,296
In 2025*
1,397 ▼81%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 409,317 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Louis by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1910s, when it ranked #56. The largest share of babies named Louis, 28.4%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#668,338
1890s#898,544
1900s#9210,498
1910s#5650,972
1920s#6568,296
1930s#8848,140
1940s#11549,708
1950s#17448,187
1960s#23233,592
1970s#28320,321
1980s#32717,531
1990s#42014,494
2000s#62010,272
2010s#56611,825
2020s#4658,599
Before 19014.4%
Greatest Generation 1901–2728.4%
Silent Generation 1928–4521.7%
Baby boom 1946–6421.6%
Generation X 1965–809%
Millennials 1981–966.5%
Generation Z 1997–124.1%
2013 and later4.3%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Louis is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Louis has been most common in Rhode Island (2.4×), Louisiana (2.3×), and Connecticut (2×), and least common in Utah (0.39×).

377,961 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Louis

#301 Marcus · 184,054#302 Peggy · 183,679#304 Johnny · 183,104#305 Holly · 182,754

Spelled almost the same

4 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Louis, most common first.

#429 Lois · 131,667#566 Louise · 96,368#2,070 Louisa · 13,130#28,745 Lous · 311

Also a last name

As a last name, Louis ranks #1,315 of 156,621, with 26,229 people. See Louis as a last name

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