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I prefer Julian, Louis is just not my style at all. I think Louis sounds kind of girly. I really like Julian, and I think more people should use it.

Julian, it has much more strength, also it's Roman.

Julian. It was on my shortlist, sounds classic, masculine, mild-mannered yet heroic... I understand "calculatedly inoffensive" but I don't think that is the character of the name. I think that's just the way its character comes off when you consider that it's so moderate, normal, and fashionable, that it is almost too safe. I think Louis is a very good name, but there's something so slick - not quite greasy - about it, to my mind. The WISS in Louis rubs me the wrong way (and if you say it like Looey or call him Looey, that's worse). This keeps it off my list.

This message was edited 2/4/2011, 7:24 PM

Julian. Louis is to French and they're are too many ways it could be mispronounced. Julian is still fairly French but it's pronounced the same in most languages.

While I like Louis (pr. LOO-ee), Julian has always captivated me. Sure, it's classic, beautiful and has a strong history, but it evokes an image of one who is successful, confident, educated, cultured, intelligent, self-assured, etc. I could go on and on. As a bonus, I've never known a single one so I don't find it trendy or wannabe anything. I've been accused by my dh of liking 'soft' names for males (Adrian, Julian, Leo, Oliver, Sebastian) but I'm totally fine with that because I consider all of these names to be quite strong and decidedly masculine. OTOH, he loves Ian which can also fall into the same category by some.

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Bottom line: either complements Peter. You can't go wrong here.

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ETA that because I have known men/boys named Louis / Lewis (Lou / Louie) my entire life, Julian seems fresher in my mind. I've never paid attention to their popularity statistics so I'm not sure if that assumption is true.

This message was edited 2/4/2011, 4:45 PM

Tricky. I'm fond of both of them. Had I been a boy I might have been a Julian, and I'd have been quite happy with it; it strikes me as friendly and intelligent. Peter and Julian seem like a better match to me, because they're both sturdily, unassumingly English, and Louis calls to mind French kings and jazz, and seems fancier. I do love it though, and I like Lewis too, which for me would go better with Peter.

I like both, but I think I slightly prefer Louis. I like the Lewis spelling better though. When I see Louis, it makes me want to pronounce it the French way.

Louis.

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Julian (despite being a name that I've thought of) is trendy, yuppie and over-used. Louis is solid, doesn't have the yuppie and young sounds of Julian, plus it has Louis Armstrong for it.

julian. it's prettier

Julian. Why? It's simple: I like Julian and dislike Louis :)

Julian, the pronunciation of Louis is ambiguous.

You have a Peter right? Then definitely Louis. A very strong sturdy understatedly wonderful pair.

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And just in general, I like Louis better but dislike Lou.

Louis, because it's one of the best names ever.

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Julian is okay, but sort of, I dunno, calculatedly inoffensive, and a little trendy. And boring I think.

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Louis is great though. The ambiguous pronunciation and the nickname Lou are both big pluses in my book.

Louis :)
it sounds more masculine.

I like both. I think Julian is easier for me to imagine on a young person, and that was going to be my choice, but the more I think about it the more I'm liking the idea of Louis. I just don't like the nickname Lou.
I have to say I like Peter & Louis better than Peter & Julian.... Julian is sort of jewely and Julius Caesar-y and it overshadows the equally lovely but less shiny Peter a bit.

I prefer Julian. It sparkles, whereas Louis doesn't do nearly as much for me. I do think Louis is a nice underused classic, but Julian has always really appealed to me. Plus, you get the awesome nickname Jules.

Louis

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for a few reasons.

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First, for me, Louis is a family name in that, being French going way back, there's a lotta Louis up in there.

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Second, Louis has a wonderful dual image of bookishness and cool-jazz working for it. I love that about it. It can be serious or offbeat, straight-edge or counter-culture, whatever the person likes.

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Peter and Julian (if this is for you) is a gorgeous duo however. Very jewel-bright and vibrant, while Peter and Louis is more subdued and elegant. Tough call.

Louis. I love the nn Louie. Julian sounds too feminine to me.

Julian!
It's refrshing, classic, not too common and very beautiful.

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Louis just doesn't speak to me and I find it dull and boring.