Louise is the French feminine form of Louis and means "famous warrior", from the Germanic hlud, fame, and wig, war. It was a classic across Europe and America through the early 20th century, and the 1991 road movie Thelma & Louise gave it a dose of grit. Louise re-entered the US top 1000 in 2016 and has climbed steadily from number 896 to number 516 in 2025, its best rank in this century.