Ludwig is a German name, deriving from Old High German Hludwīg, also spelled Hluotwīg.Paraschkewow, Boris (2004). Wörter und Namen gleicher Herkunft und Struktur: Lexikon etymologischer Dubletten im Deutschen (in German). Walter de Gruyter. p. 57. ISBN 978-3-11-017470-0. Etymologically, the name can be traced back to the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name *hlūdawiganaz, which is composed of two elements: *hlūdaz ("loud, famous") and *wiganą ("to battle, to fight") respectively, the resulting name meaning "famous warrior" or "famous in battle". The name Louis is a derivative of Ludwig.
The name is pronounced in German as LOOT-vig, with the second syllable pronounced as rather than English .
Notable people and characters with the name include:
People Note: Individuals may appear in more than one subsection.
German nobles Ludwig I, count of Württemberg (1143–1158) Ludwig II, count of Württemberg (1158–1181) Ludwig I, count of Württemberg-Urach (1419–1450) Ludwig II, count of Württemberg-Urach (1450–1457) Ludwig IV, landgrave of Thuringia (1200–1227) Ludwig I of Bavaria, king of Bavaria (1825–1848) Ludwig II of Bavaria, king of Bavaria (1864–1886) Ludwig III of Bavaria, last king of Bavaria (1913–1918) Ludwig V (disambiguation) Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine (1877–1892)
Architects Ludwig Levy, German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German-American architect
Artists Ludwig Burger, German painter and illustrator Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter and printmaker Ludwig Merwart, Austrian painter and graphic artist Ludwig Mestler, Austrian artist noted for his watercolor painting Ludwig Richter, German painter
Authors and poets Ludwig Bemelmans, American author and children's book writer and illustrator Ludwig Thoma, German author Ludwig Tieck, German poet Ludwig Uhland, German poet Ludwig Lavater, Swiss author
Composers, conductors and musicians Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), German composer and pianist Ludwig Göransson, Swedish composer, conductor, and record producer Ludwig Minkus, Austrian composer and violin virtuoso Ludwig Spohr (1784–1859), German composer, violinist and conductor
Philosophers Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–1872), German philosopher and anthropologist Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), Austrian philosopher
Politicians Ludwig von Cobenzl (1753–1809), Austrian Habsburg diplomat and politician Ludwig Erhard (1897–1977), German economist and West German chancellor Ludwig Grass (1789–1860), Liechtensteiner physician and politician Ludwig Keke (born c. 1935), Nauruan politician and diplomat Ludwig Marxer (1867–1962), Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein Ludwig Mecklinger (1919–1994), East German politician and academic Ludwig Schulze, Papua New Guinean politician Ludwig Scotty (1948–2026), Nauruan politician, twice president of Nauru
Scientists Ludwig Aschoff, German physician and pathologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1901–1972), Austrian-born biologist Ludwig Binswanger, Swiss psychiatrist Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–1872), German anthropologist and philosopher Ludwig von Mises, Austrian economist Ludwig Mond, German chemist Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist Ludwig Reichenbach, German botanist Ludwig Schläfli, Swiss geometer Ludwig von Graff, an Austrian zoologist
Soldiers Ludwig Beck, German World War II general involved in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler Ludwig von Benedek, Austrian general (Feldzeugmeister) of Hungarian descent Ludwig Crüwell, German World War II general Ludwig Kübler, German General der Gebirgstruppe Ludwig Plagge (1910–1948), German SS officer at Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Majdanek concentration camps executed for war crimes Ludwig Runzheimer, German Nazi Gestapo officer executed for war crimes
Others Ludwig W. Adamec (1924–2019), American academic and historian Ludwig Ahgren (born 1995), American YouTuber and live streamer Ludwig Breitenbach (1813–1885), German classical scholar Ludwig von Erlichshausen (1410–1467), Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights Ludwig Fischer (1905–1947), German Nazi lawyer and government official executed for war crimes Ludwig Gehre, German resistance fighter during World War II Ludwig Gumplowicz (1838–1909), Polish sociologist, jurist, historian, and political scientist Ludwig Kaiser, (born 1990), German professional wrestler Ludwig Leichhardt, Prussian explorer Ludwig Minelli (1932–2025), Swiss lawyer and euthanasia activist Ludwig Müller (1883–1945), German leader of the Protestant Reich Church Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen, German Lutheran missionary to North Sumatra, Dutch East Indies Ludwig Ortiz, Venezuelan judoka Ludwig Roselius (1874–1943), German coffee baron and company founder Ludwig Rödl, German chess master Ludwig Rübekeil, German philologist Ludwig Trepte, German actor Ludwig Zamenhof (1859–1917), creator of artificial language Esperanto
Fictional characters
Ludwig von Drake, in Walt Disney cartoons and comic books Ludwig von Koopa, one of the Koopalings from the Mario franchise Ludwig Beilschmidt, otherwise known as Germany, in the anime series Axis Powers Hetalia
See also
References