Lou
Girl nameLou has been given to 38,198 babies in the U.S. since 1880. It peaked in 1954.
Meaning & origin /luː/
Shortening.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025
Total babies
38,198
Peak year
1954 (1,547 babies)
Rank in 2025
Below top 1000
First recorded
1880
10-year trend
▲ +118%
Gender split
89% girls / 11% boys
Rank through the decades
Lou's rank among U.S. girl names at 25-year milestones.
| Year | Girls rank | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | #275 | #718 |
| 1925 | #338 | — |
| 1950 | #395 | — |
— means outside the top 1000 that year.
Spellings & variants
Names one letter away from Lou — alternate spellings parents actually use.
Famous people named Lou
Lou Andreas-Salomé
German-Russian essayist, philosopher, and psychoanalyst (1861–1937)
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)
Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).
Names with a similar vibe
Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Lou.
FAQ
How popular is the name Lou?
Lou has been given to 38,198 babies in the U.S. since 1880. It ranked below the top 1000 in 2025.
When did the name Lou peak?
Lou peaked in 1954, when 1,547 babies were given the name.
Is Lou a girl or boy name?
Lou is primarily a girl name (89% of babies named Lou are girls).
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