# Lou (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/lou/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /luː/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 38,198 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 4,089 / 34,109 (89% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 84, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Shortening.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 16 | 7,655 |
| 2012 | 18 | 7,045 |
| 2013 | 15 | 8,014 |
| 2014 | 22 | 5,909 |
| 2015 | 29 | 4,808 |
| 2016 | 35 | 4,208 |
| 2017 | 30 | 4,652 |
| 2018 | 39 | 3,823 |
| 2019 | 40 | 3,760 |
| 2020 | 43 | 3,527 |
| 2021 | 54 | 3,053 |
| 2022 | 62 | 2,772 |
| 2023 | 69 | 2,575 |
| 2024 | 71 | 2,521 |
| 2025 | 65 | 2,674 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 27 | 3,855 |
| 2012 | 18 | 5,169 |
| 2013 | 24 | 4,136 |
| 2014 | 27 | 3,854 |
| 2015 | 38 | 3,060 |
| 2016 | 45 | 2,710 |
| 2017 | 37 | 3,167 |
| 2018 | 32 | 3,488 |
| 2019 | 44 | 2,836 |
| 2020 | 58 | 2,340 |
| 2021 | 61 | 2,290 |
| 2022 | 76 | 2,013 |
| 2023 | 74 | 2,040 |
| 2024 | 70 | 2,125 |
| 2025 | 81 | 1,929 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 3 | 4,137 |
| 2003 | 6 | 2,727 |
| 2009 | 3 | 5,556 |
| 2010 | 5 | 4,012 |
| 2014 | 7 | 3,160 |
| 2015 | 3 | 5,730 |
| 2017 | 5 | 4,063 |
| 2018 | 10 | 2,499 |
| 2020 | 3 | 5,493 |
| 2021 | 3 | 5,581 |
| 2022 | 4 | 4,645 |
| 2023 | 3 | 5,687 |
| 2024 | 4 | 4,843 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5,927 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 3 | 2,943 |
| 2014 | 3 | 4,632 |
| 2016 | 3 | 4,810 |
| 2019 | 6 | 3,013 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,119 |
| 2025 | 4 | 4,275 |

## People named Lou

- Lou Henry Hoover, First Lady of the United States from 1929 to 1933
- Lou Ferrigno, American actor and bodybuilder
- Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (1903–1941)
- Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor
- Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (1906–1959)
- Aimee Lou Wood, English actress (born 1994)
- Fannie Lou Hamer, American civil rights activist (1917–1977)
- Lou Jeanmonnot, French biathlete
- Lou Taylor Pucci, American actor
- Lou Doillon, French actress and singer
- Lou Ottens, Dutch engineer and inventor (1926-2021)
- Lou Donaldson, American saxophonist (1926–2024)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.