How do you pronounce Louis?

[dmpmercury]

In my boy name thread it was mentioned that Louis may be difficult to pronounce or spell. I'm using the traditional spelling and where I am from it is pronounced and spelled like I want it to be. I was wondering if others would pronounce it correctly the first time they saw it. I am not to worried about having to spell it for people because it isn't too hard and it is a traditional spelling. Even the pronouciation thing isn't the end of the world. I wanted to see though if most peope will pronounce it the way I want. How would you pronounce the name if you saw it.

[MaerynPearl]

Lou is

the only time I would pronounce it Lou ee is if it were obviously french (such as King Louis or Louis Pasteur)

[ledzepplon]

Originally Posted by MaerynPearl

Lou is

the only time I would pronounce it Lou ee is if it were obviously french (such as King Louis or Louis Pasteur)

Same here.

[Chamomile Girl]

I would say Lou-is, but I have had students who pronounce it Lou-ie. Same geographic area, different cultures.

[Carita]

in parts of he country like here w/a lot of french folks I'd say Lou -ee, but other places I'd guess Louis.

[eclipse]

I couldn't answer, because it really depends. I would probably default to pronouncing is with the -is , but I've known people with the French pronunciaction. Add in that it's much, much more common for me to see Luis (especially now that I'm in Mexico, but also when I lived in California), which is loo-ees, but I knew someone who pronounced it loo-is, and I just guess

[violet_]

Could go either way for me -- depends on the individual and it's the first thing I'd ask if I met someone with that spelling. Probably in the US it's mostly Lou-is, but other places Lou-ee.

[laohaire]

If the Louis in question were in Massachusetts, where I am, I'd say Loo-is.

If I were in Lousiana, Quebec or even Ontario, I'd say Loo-ie.

I'd guess Loo-is almost anywhere else in North America.

[2sweetboysmom]

Lou-is
There are however multiple spellings...
Louis
Lewis
Luis

[annablue]

I've spent a lot of time in Europe and am more familiar with it being pronounced Lou-ee. It just seems more correct to me. However, since I know it's often pronounced Lew-is in the US, I usually ask to be sure.

[lunarlady]

I would guess Lou-ess, but I know that many people would say Lou-ee. I think if you really want to have just the former pronounciation, you should spell it Luis. If you really like the latter, well, unless you live in a french speaking area I think you just get ready to correct people and teach you child to do so when they are old enough.

[kittywitty]

Lou ee

But I studied French for years and read a lot of Anne Rice. So it just seems more natural to me.

[eclipse]

I think the most clear way to get the loo-iss pronunciation would be to spell it Lewis. I've never heard that spelling pronounced any other way. With Louis, there's the French pronunciation and with Luis, there's the Spanish.

[Jules09]

I say "Lou ee", but I'm Australian. Everyone I know with that name goes by "Lou ee". If it was pronounced "Lou is", I would assume it was spelled "Lewis".

[JessieBird]

Where I live it could easily go either way, probably more likely Lou-ee. But it's totally bilingual here - French/English. I'm guessing you wouldn't have a problem getting Lou-is most often where you live.

I think they're equally nice though so personally it wouldn't bother me if they got interchanged. (My son is Henry and as often as not he gets the French pronunciation even from English people, he knows both and we don't mind.)

[JessieBird]

Originally Posted by Jules09

I say "Lou ee", but I'm Australian. Everyone I know with that name goes by "Lou ee". If it was pronounced "Lou is", I would assume it was spelled "Lewis".

Now that I think about it, I think this is how it is where I am now too. Because Lewis has grown in popularity, Lou-ee is the more common pronunciation of Louis.

[MaerynPearl]

Lewis to me would be using a last name as a first name...

[Just1More]

I picked lou-is. And then I remembered that old jazz band song, "Ah, looee, looI, ooo, oo, ooo, mmmhhmmm...." (I really can't type that, and especially not phonetically.)

Anyway, Lou-is seems more formal to me, and I would (excepting as others said, in various locations) default to it. Lou-ie would be a casual greeting.

Which way are you hoping?

[MacKinnon]

Lewis, to me, is the way to get "Lou-is" for a boy. I see "Louis" as the girls name, "Low-is".

[MaerynPearl]

Originally Posted by ilovemyavery

Lewis, to me, is the way to get "Lou-is" for a boy. I see "Louis" as the girls name, "Low-is".

err... that would be Lois.