Louisa

Louisa, a quaint vintage name, is an example of the idea that these days, old-style girls' names are more fashionable when they end with an a rather than with e, as in Julie/Julia, Diane/Diana. Another plus: the Louisa May Alcott reference. So for the next generation, Louise may rise again, especially with the growing popularity of other Lou/Lu-starting names, like Lucy and Luna.

Very popular in the eighteeth century, Louisa was finally toppled at the end of the nineteenth by the French form Louise, which was a top name through the first quarter of the twentieth century; Louisa is now in the Top 30 in Germany.

Louisa has many literary associations, including two Dickens novels--Hard Times and Dombey & Sons, and two by Jane Austen--Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. One of Meryl Streep's daughters is named Louisa.