Meaning and history
Ludwig is a Germanic name meaning “famous in battle,” formed from hlut, “famous, loud,” and wig, “war, battle.” It was borne by three Merovingian kings of the Franks, usually spelled Clovis, as well as several Carolingian kings and Holy Roman emperors, often rendered in French as Louis. Notable later bearers include the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) and the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), who made major contributions to logic and the philosophy of language.
20062006: 8 births, rank #8,732
2007: 7 births, rank #9,788
2008: 6 births, rank #11,037
2009: 10 births, rank #7,692
2010: 5 births, rank #12,231
20112011: 9 births, rank #8,079
2012: 10 births, rank #7,559
2013: 12 births, rank #6,603
2014: 7 births, rank #9,642
2015: 13 births, rank #6,324
20162016: 8 births, rank #8,816
2017: 6 births, rank #10,775
2018: 11 births, rank #7,136
2019: no US SSA record for this spelling
2020: 8 births, rank #8,739
20212021: 13 births, rank #6,335
2022: 9 births, rank #8,300
2023: 9 births, rank #8,255
2024: 10 births, rank #7,765
20252025: 12 births, rank #6,803
Ludwig moved from #932 to #957 for boys between 1931 and 1933. Its highest annual birth count came in 1916, with 88 births.