'Louise' originates from French, specifically the feminine form of the name 'Louis', which itself comes from Old Frankish/Old High German.

'Louise' developed as the feminine counterpart of Old French 'Louis', which derives from Latinized forms of Germanic 'Hludwig' (Old High German), where 'hlud' meant 'fame' and 'wig' meant 'war/warrior'. Over time the masculine name became 'Louis' in French and the feminine form became 'Louise' in modern English and French.

Initially, the elements of the original Germanic name meant 'famous warrior,' but over time the term evolved into a proper female given name without retaining an active lexical meaning beyond being a personal name.