Lou

Lou: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “famous warrior”
Origin: Germanic
Say it: LOO · 1 syllable
Used for: Girls (90% of all uses)

Short form of Louis, Louise, Louisa, or related names from Germanic Ludwig. It can be used for any gender depending on the full form.

English names French names Names meaning warrior Short names Classic names

How popular is Lou?

202442.0 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Lou in 2024140

2024 rank#2,524 girls

Peak year1880

Total US babies since 188038,049

Lou is rising: use over the last five years is 3.5× what it was a decade earlier.

Names like Lou

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Luisfamous warrior · Germanic
Louisfamous warrior · French
Lewisfamous warrior · Germanic
Louisefamous warrior · French
Louiefamous warrior · Germanic
Louisafamous warrior · Germanic
Luisafamous warrior · Italian
Lulauncertain · Unknown

Lou questions

What does the name Lou mean?

Lou means "famous warrior". It comes from Germanic. Short form of Louis, Louise, Louisa, or related names from Germanic Ludwig. It can be used for any gender depending on the full form.

Is Lou a boy or girl name?

Lou is mainly a girl's name in US records (90% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Lou?

140 US babies were named Lou in 2024. Its peak year was 1880.

How do you pronounce Lou?

Lou is usually pronounced LOO.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.