Lou

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Lou: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Lou: Recorded since 1999, it reached #2,499 in 2018, and it stood at #4,843 in 2024.

1registrar recorded it
18times a registrar ranked it
26years from first to last
#2499highest recorded position
8groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 2002–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
2002	#4137
2003	#2727
2009	#5556
2010	#4012
2014	#3160
2015	#5730
2017	#4063
2018	#2499
2020	#5493
2021	#5581
2022	#4645
2023	#5687
2024	#4843

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in 5 of the 26 years from 1999 to 2024.

Official data for England and Wales, 1999–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1999
First recorded at #2943 among boys in England and Wales in 1999 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Highest recorded2002–2024
Highest recorded position: #2499 among girls in England and Wales, in 2018 (recorded 2002–2024).
England and Wales · Girls
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #4843 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Lou appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, with 13 ranked years and 59 births registered; the earliest is England and Wales · Boys, from 1999.

Lou across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Lou's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#2943 (1999)	#2943 (1999)	#5119 (2024)	5 of 26	18 (1999–2024)	6 (2019)
England and Wales · Girls	#4137 (2002)	#2499 (2018)	#4843 (2024)	13 of 23	59 (2002–2024)	10 (2018)

Lou by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Lou in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
2000s	12	3 of 10	4
2010sbusiest	30	5 of 10	6
2020s	17	5 of 10	3

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2010s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 6 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Lou appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Recorded in official data for England and Wales from 1999 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #2499 in England and Wales in 2018.

Lou's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#4843	4	High	Verified
2024	England and Wales	male	#5119	3	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#5687	3	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#4645	4	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#5581	3	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#5493	3	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#3013	6	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#2499	10	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#4063	5	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#4810	3	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#5730	3	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#3160	7	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#4632	3	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#4012	5	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#5556	3	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#2727	6	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#4137	3	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#2943	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 1 registrar between 1999 and 2024, ranked in 16 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #2,499, first reached in 2018.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 10 births, registered in England and Wales in 2018.

1 registrar publishes it in more than one category list, holding a place in each for at least five years — an observation about those lists rather than about the name.

Its record falls into 4 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 5 years.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Lottie-Rae · #2115, 12y
Lottie-Rose · #1556, 15y
Louanna · #3099, 13y
Louay · #2263, 11y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 1 registrar, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Estee · #2499, 18y
Evelyn-Grace · #2499, 12y
Evelynne · #2499, 18y
Haajar · #2499, 14y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Estee · #2499, 18y
Evelynne · #2499, 18y
Jenelle · #2499, 20y
True · #2499, 8y

Lou and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Lou without appearing here.

Lou moved ahead of

Jeanette Compare
In 2017 they stood at #5730 and #4103 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #2499 and #5666.
Kari Compare
In 2017 they stood at #4012 and #3533 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #2499 and #5666.
Helene Compare
In 2016 they stood at #5730 and #4103 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2017 that had become #4063 and #5765.
Cheryl Compare
In 2023 they stood at #5687 and #5687 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #4843 and #5891.

Moved ahead of Lou

Harper Compare
In 2008 they stood at #2727 and #4373 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2009 that had become #5556 and #1171.
Fiadh Compare
In 2014 they stood at #3160 and #5691 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2015 that had become #5730 and #2705.
Linnea Compare
In 2019 they stood at #2499 and #3178 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #5493 and #3117.
Cooper Compare
In 2019 they stood at #2499 and #2674 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #5493 and #5493.

Moved the opposite way to Lou

Harper Compare
Between 2003 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Lou went from #2727 to #4843 while Harper went from #4373 to #22.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Recorded in official data for England and Wales from 1999 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #2499 in England and Wales in 2018. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Lou

Lou at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Lou across 2 official records

Lou by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Lou appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Lou and the names beside it

Lou moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Lou

Moved the opposite way to Lou

Lou at a glance

Lou across 2 official records

Lou by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Lou appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Lou and the names beside it

Lou moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Lou

Moved the opposite way to Lou