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27th Apr 2018

Everyone’s asking the same question after the royal baby name was announced

Read this before you embarrass yourself in front of polite company

Wayne Farry

The time of reckoning has arrived

The wait is over. We can now relax. William and Kate have been hard at work and settled on a name for their third child.

The little boy was born on Monday and after too many days of fevered anticipation he has been given the moniker Louis. His full name will be Louis Arthur Charles, in a nice little nod to French royalty, his grandfather and – presumably – King Arthur.

Of course, he is most likely named after Prince Charles’ great uncle, Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma.

Despite our ecstasy at finally able to return to our lives as they were before (if we can even remember that now distant reality), many people now appear to be preoccupied with another factor surrounding the little prince.

Namely, how do you pronounce his name?

On the surface it seems easy. You see the name and you say it. Simple. But then you see it again and say it differently. It’s a tough situation. What if you’re in polite company and pronounce it incorrectly? Mortifying.

To better help you navigate this minefield of potential faux pas, here are the options for how Louis’ name is pronounced.

First option: Louis. Pronounced “Loo-ee”. A famous Louis is the man seen below, Louis Armstrong.

Second option: Louis. Pronounced “Loo-iss”. A famous Louis is seen below, although his name is technically “Lewis”.

The next option? We’re not really sure. In truth there are essentially just two ways to pronounce it, but you could – at a push – go with Louis, pronounced “Lo-iss”, Lois Lane.