The Louis reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Louis

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Louis is the French form of the German name Ludwig, which is composed of the words for "fame" (hlod) and "war" (wig). In the Middle Ages this was the hereditary given name of French nobles who claimed descent from Clovis (another version of the same name), the first king of the Franks. One such family were the Bourbons, who provided kings of France from 1589 to 1789. In English speaking countries the anglicised version Lewis is sometimes used. The name is known as Luigi in Italian.

The Louis was also a gold coin issued by the kings of France. See Louis (coin) for more detail.

Louis is also the name of a Korean pop singer, see Louis (artist).

A number of famous people in history were named Louis: