UK girl's name
Louisa
A feminine given name of French and German origin meaning "renowned warrior".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Louisa is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Louisa popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #751, with 50 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2007, with 263 births.
This profile covers 4,901 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 19% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 6,056 living people in the UK are called Louisa. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Louisa ranked #751 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 50 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2007, when 263 girls were registered as Louisa.
- • Louisa ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #298 in 2021.
- • About 6,056 living people in the UK are estimated to have Louisa as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#751
2024
Births in 2024
50
Latest year
Peak year
2007
263 births
Estimated living
6,056
2026
Meaning
What does Louisa mean?
The name Louisa is derived from the Old German name Luitgarde, which is a combination of two Germanic elements: "liut" meaning "people" and "gard" meaning "compound" or "enclosure". It essentially translates to "famous guardian".
The name gained popularity in medieval France as Louise, before evolving into the English variant Louisa during the 17th century. It was particularly embraced by nobility and royalty, including Queen Louisa of Prussia (1776-1810), who was renowned for her patriotism and courage during the Napoleonic Wars.
Louisa was also a popular name in England, with notable figures such as Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), the American novelist best known for her classic work "Little Women". Another famous bearer of the name was Louisa Adams (1775-1852), the First Lady of the United States and wife of President John Quincy Adams.
In the realm of literature, the name Louisa appears in several notable works, including Jane Austen's "Persuasion", where Louisa Musgrove is a central character. Additionally, Louisa May Alcott's protagonist in "Little Women" is named Louisa "Lou" Meg March.
Other notable historical figures with the name Louisa include Louisa Morgan Sill (1850-1936), an American educator and suffragist, and Louisa Gross Horwitz (1877-1925), a pioneering American botanist and researcher in plant pathology.
The name Louisa has a rich history, spanning across different cultures and eras, carried by influential women from various walks of life. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its melodic sound and its connection to nobility and literary works.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Louisa over time
The chart below shows babies named Louisa registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Louisa, the clearest high point is 2007. The latest England and Wales figure is 50 births in 2024, compared with 263 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Louisa by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Louisa was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #635 | 308 | 5 |
| 2010s | #318 | 1,525 | 10 |
| 2000s | #217 | 2,155 | 10 |
| 1990s | #189 | 913 | 4 |
Geography
Where Louisa is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Louisa. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Louisa ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #298 in 2021.
Across the UK
Louisa in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#333 in 2024
51 years of NRS records, 1,092 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#298 in 2021
18 years of NISRA records, 105 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Louisa
-
Louisa Venable Kyle
historian; journalist
American historian, author and journalist
1903-1999
-
Louisa Wilkinson
nurse
Matron-in-Chief of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (1889-1968)
1889-1968
-
Louisa Watson Small Peat
author
Irish writer
1883-1953
-
Louisa Wilkins
administrator
English agricultural administrator
1873-1929
-
Louisa Thomson-Price
businessperson; editor; suffragist; company director
UK suffragette, businessperson, editor (1864-1926)
1864-1926
-
Louisa Till
puppeteer
English American marionettist
1853-1913
-
Louisa Ann Wade
(born 1844) head of Royal School of Needlework
1843-1920
-
Louisa Twining
editor; philanthropist
English philanthropic worker, editor
1820-1912
Related
Names similar to Louisa
- Lily 72,956
- Lucy 70,663
- Lauren 50,664
- Leah 33,185
- Lola 24,525
- Layla 24,520
- Laura 23,471
- Lilly 21,714
- Lydia 18,353
- Libby 14,515
- Lara 13,415
- Lacey 13,406
FAQ
Louisa: questions and answers
How popular is the name Louisa in the UK right now?
In 2024, Louisa was ranked #751 for girls in England and Wales, with 50 births registered.
When was Louisa most popular?
The peak year on record was 2007, with 263 babies registered as Louisa in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Louisa?
A feminine given name of French and German origin meaning "renowned warrior".
How many people are called Louisa in the UK?
A total of 4,901 babies have been registered as Louisa across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 1,092 more in Scotland and 105 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Louisa most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Louisa ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #298 in 2021. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.