Louis

French, English, Dutch

French form of Ludovicus, the Latinized form of Ludwig. This was the name of 18 kings of France, starting with Louis I the son of Charlemagne. Others include Louis Ix (Saint Louis) who led two crusades and Louis Xiv (called the Sun King) who was the ruler of France during the height of its power, the builder of the Palace of Versailles, and the longest reigning monarch in the history of Europe. It was also borne by kings of Germany (as Ludwig), Hungary (as Lajos), and other places, meaning "From the Germanic name Chlodovech, which was composed of the elements hlud "famous" and wig "war, battle". This was the name of three Merovingian kings of the Franks (though their names are usually spelled in the Latinized form Clovis) as well as several Carolingian kings and Holy Roman Emperors (names often spelled in the French form Louis). Other famous bearers include the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) and the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), who contributed to logic and the philosophy of language."