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Boy · Frankish (Germanic)
Clovis
Say it: KLOH-vis
Meaning
Latinized form of Frankish Chlodowig, from hlod 'fame' and wig 'battle'; the same name that became Louis and Ludwig.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Borne by the Merovingian king who united the Franks and was baptized around 500; the name itself later developed into Louis.
Its wave through time
A fashion of the 1910s
In the United States
- 3,645 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1914, about 1 in 10,200 boys
- 7 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
| Frankish | Chlodowig |
|---|---|
| German | Ludwig |
| French | Louis |
| Latin | Chlodovechus |
Famous bearers
- Clovis I, king of the Franks
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Royal and noble genealogies
- Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.