Luisa

Luisa (Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese) or Louise (French) is a feminine given name; it is the feminine form of the given name Louis (Luis), the French form of the Frankish Chlodowig (German Ludwig), from the Germanic elements hlod "fame" and wig "combat".

Variations include Luisella, Luisetta, Luigia. Its popularity derives from the cult of Saint Louise de Marillac of Paris, and from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Luisa Miller.

The name may refer to:

• Luisa Miller, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi
• Giovanni da Verrazzano's name for Block Island and hence, Rhode Island
• Luisa Piccarreta also known as "Little Daughter of the Divine Will" is a proposed Roman Catholic saint
• Luisa Warrington, fictional character in UK soap opera Family Affairs, played by Clare Byam-Shaw
• Luísa, a song composed by Tom Jobim Antônio Carlos Jobim

Given name

• Luisa Accati (born 1942), Italian historian, anthropologist and feminist public intellectual
• Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi (1799–1866), heroine of the Venezuelan War of Independence
• Luisa Baldini, Anglo-Italian news reporter and presenter, presently working for BBC News
• Luisa Bradshaw-White (born 1975), English actress
• Luisa María Calderón (born 1965), Mexican politician
• Luisa Capetillo (1879–1922), Corsican-Puerto Rican writer and anarchist
• Luisa Casati (1881–1957), Italian artists' model
• Luisa Castro (born 1966), Spanish poet and writer
• Luísa Diogo (born 1958), Mozambican politician, Prime Minister of Mozambique from February 2004 to December 2010
• Luisa DiPietro, faculty member at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry
• Luisa Durán (born 1941), former First Lady of Chile, the wife of Chile Ricardo Lagos
• Luisa "Loi" Ejercito Estrada (born 1930), Filipino politician
• Luisa Ferida (1914–1945), Italian stage and motion picture actress
• Luisa Martín (born 1960), Spanish actress
• Luisa Marzotto (born 1984), Australian association footballer
• Luisa of Medina-Sidonia (1613–1666), Queen of Portugal
• Luisa Menárguez, Spanish harpist and educator
• Luisa Micheletti (born 1983), presenter on MTV Brazil
• Luisa Moreno (1907–1992), Guatemalan-American communist and writer
• Luisa Morgantini (born 1940), Italian politician, Member of the European Parliament
• Luisa Eugenia Navas, Chilean pharmacist and botanist
• Luisa Ottolini (born 1954), Italian physicist
• Luisa Ranieri (born 1973), Italian actress
• Luisa Rivelli (born 1930), Italian film actress
• Luisa Roldán (1652–1706), Spanish sculptor of the Baroque Era
• Luisa Rossi (1925–1984), Italian actress
• Luisa Sala (1923–1986), Spanish actress
• Luisa Tetrazzini (1871–1940), Italian coloratura soprano
• Luisa Värk (born 1987), Estonian singer
• Luisa Zissman (born 1987), British television personality

Fictional characters

• Luisa Anselmi, a fictional character played by Anouk Aimée in the 1962 film 8½
• Luisa Contini, a fictional character played by Marion Cotillard in the 2009 film Nine

See also

• Maria Luisa