See the results of this poll: Which Louisa pronunciation do you prefer?
Respondents: 15 (This poll is closed)
- loo-EES-ah : 6 (40%)
- loo-EEZ-ah : 9 (60%)
- Other: 0 (0%)
My MN is [name_f]Louise[/name_f] pronounced Loo-eez. I would always presume the z sound on [name_f]Louise[/name_f]/[name_f]Louisa[/name_f]. I dont know why but everyone I know is the same. If you are looking for that S sound I would think of the spelling [name_f]Luisa[/name_f].
[name_m]Both[/name_m] spellings and pronunciations are nice but like you I think I prefer Loo-ee-sa
I prefer [name_u]Lou[/name_u] eez uh.
[name_f]Luisa[/name_f] is pronounced LWEE-sah and LWEE-zah.
probably one of my favorite names. My sister’s middle name (and mother’s and grandmother’s) is [name_f]Louise[/name_f], and it’s actually grown on me over the years.
I adore [name_f]Louisa[/name_f]!
I’ve only ever heard it pronounced Loo-ee-sah, but the softer -zeh ending doesn’t bother me.
I saw her mentioned here a few weeks ago and she’s been growing on me since then. I’ve added her to my top 4.
Hmm…
I really love [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] it’s elegant, and has sounds so feminine. [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] is a lovely name and I prefer your pronunciation as well. [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] has an effortless vibe. It’s just very pretty.
I like the eez alot she’s pretty & has like a wild side to a old name. Then again my Spanish friends mom is [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] & I think she makes me love ut. She’s crazy & loud & stylish & didn’t put up with nonsense but family oriented & loving
Quite like the name. I say it with an S. I’ve posted on this topic before. I think it’s influenced by dialect. [name_f]Luisa[/name_f] might get an S more definitely as it’s always S in Spanish, but English speakers might still read it with a Z if they say [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] that way. I prefer the S, but the Z isn’t terrible to me.
I like [name_f]Louisa[/name_f], but I prefer [name_f]Louise[/name_f].
I love [name_f]Louisa[/name_f]! It’s so sweet and innocent and pretty, yet strong and classic. I have a good friend named [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] who’s opinionated but not like crazy outgoing, and really into art and fashion, and it suits her well. Everyone I know says it lou-eez-ah (actually I didn’t realize it could be pronounced a different way). I’d assume lots of people use both pronunciations without realizing it, but it isn’t that hard to correct them or for them to remember. Use it! 
I pronounce it Loo-eez-uh. Unless you live in an area with a large Spanish speaking population I think you would generally have to put up with the loo-eez-uh pron. I like the name, it isn’t something I would choose but it is pretty and timeless. I think the nn [name_f]Lulu[/name_f] is adorable.
I think [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] is beautiful, I say it with the “EEZ” sound and honestly never would have thought of the “wheeze” sound. It’s not that noticeable to me. I don’t know how picky you could be, though–I think most people say it intuitively one way or the other, and insisting everyone use the pronunciation/etc. that she wants makes her that mom–the one that is almost eye-roll inducing when she insists her son is [name_m]Patrick[/name_m], not [name_u]Pat[/name_u], or that [name_f]Julea[/name_f] isn’t [name_f]Julia[/name_f], but joo-[name_m]LAY[/name_m]-ah… I can understand loving a certain pronunciation (or not loving any nicknames), but if you want to avoid the ‘eez’ ending that badly, I would either spell it [name_f]Luisa[/name_f] (lwee-sah and loo-ee-sah aren’t that different, in all honesty, and while I’m not fluent in Spanish, I would say [name_f]Luisa[/name_f] exactly how you’re wanting [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] to be said–loo-ee-sah) or drop it altogether. I’m afraid you’d drive yourself bonkers correcting everyone. [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] is beautiful, though–I adore it, and I think the nns [name_u]Lou[/name_u] and [name_f]Lulu[/name_f] are adorable, and even [name_u]Isa[/name_u].
I love this name and have loved it since I read [name_m]Little[/name_m] Women as a child. I have always pronounced it with a Z, but I am not opposed to the S-sound. I can see how it may be more appealing. Either way, I love the name. I was so shocked when I saw that it hasn’t been in the Top 1000 in the last forty years - I’m terrified that it will get wildly popular in the next decade and I won’t be able to use it. Also, I love the nickname [name_u]Lou[/name_u]!
I love [name_f]Louisa[/name_f]. I could go either way on pronunciation- though I’m probably more likely to say Loo-wee-za. I think it’s very sweet and fun. [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] is running barefoot in a garden, the train of her skits trailing behind her. [name_f]Love[/name_f], love, love.
I pronounce it exactly the way you do. [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] is pretty and simply gracious, imo…
I love love love [name_f]Louisa[/name_f]! It’s my daughter’s name, so I’m biased.
We pronounce it with the Z sound. We live in Germany and she’s bilingual, so that’s really the only way it’s pronounced over here (although the typical spelling in Germany is [name_f]Luisa[/name_f], so it does get misspelled a lot).
My American family also pronounced it with the S sound, until I corrected them. I much prefer the Z sound. The S just doesn’t sound right to me for some reason.
Anyway, I think it’s a beautiful, strong, underused classic!
I adore [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] (my great-gran’s name), and I much prefer it pronounced with the z sound. We’ve ruled it out for us, though, because we don’t like [name_u]Lou[/name_u] as a nn. My great-gran never once went by her full name, and we expect that our baby girl would end up going by [name_u]Lou[/name_u] at some point. I really do believe in the inevitability of nicknames (nobody seems to have time for more than two syllables), so we’re only picking ones we can live with. It seems like the z sound vs. the s sound is more of a dealbreaker for you than potential nns, but I think it’s the same issue, namely that you’ll have to go around correcting people. It’s fine if you don’t have an issue with that, but I’m too lazy to do it on a consistent basis and would give up like, a month into introducing her to people.
I don’t think it would be a problem for me to use my preferred pronunciation because I would use it as a middle only.
I had no idea the eez pronunciation was so popular! I’ve only ever heard it pronounced Loo-EES-ah. The only time I hear the eez-sound is on [name_f]Louise[/name_f]. I actually had to look up pronunciations on forvo.com to see what Loo-eez-ah sounded like, and I liked the [name_m]German[/name_m] and Canadian pronunciations but the American one sounded a lot more like La-WEEZ-ah, which I have to say I find unappealing.