Ludwig (given name)
Ludwig is a German name, deriving from Old High German Hludwīg, also spelled Hluotwīg. Etymologically, the name can be traced back to the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name *hlūdawiganaz, which is composed of two elements: *hlūdaz and *wiganą respectively, the resulting name meaning "famous warrior" or "famous in battle".
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
German nobles
- Ludwig I, count of Württemberg
- Ludwig II, count of Württemberg
- Ludwig I, count of Württemberg-Urach
- Ludwig II, count of Württemberg-Urach
- Ludwig IV, landgrave of Thuringia
- Ludwig I of Bavaria, king of Bavaria
- Ludwig II of Bavaria, king of Bavaria
- Ludwig III of Bavaria, last king of Bavaria
- Ludwig V (disambiguation)
- Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
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, German composer and pianist
- Ludwig Göransson, Swedish composer, conductor, and record producer
- Ludwig Minkus, Austrian composer and violin virtuoso
- Ludwig Spohr, German composer, violinist and conductor
Philosophers
- Ludwig Feuerbach, German philosopher and anthropologist
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian philosopher
Politicians
- Ludwig von Cobenzl, Austrian Habsburg diplomat and politician
- Ludwig Grass, Liechtensteiner physician and politician
- Ludwig Marxer, Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein
- Ludwig Erhard, West German chancellor
- Ludwig Keke, Nauruan politician and diplomat
- Ludwig Mecklinger, East German politician and academic
- Ludwig Scotty, president of Nauru
- Ludwig Schulze, Papua New Guinean politician
Scientists
- Ludwig Aschoff, German physician and pathologist
- Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Austrian-born biologist
- Ludwig Binswanger, Swiss psychiatrist
- Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist
- Ludwig Feuerbach, 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,was 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 of Hungarian descent
- Ludwig Crüwell, German World War II general
- Ludwig Kübler, German General der Gebirgstruppe
- Ludwig Plagge, 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, American academic and historian
- Ludwig Ahgren, American YouTuber and live streamer
- Ludwig Breitenbach, German classical scholar
- Ludwig von Erlichshausen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights
- Ludwig Fischer, German Nazi lawyer and government official executed for war crimes
- Ludwig Gehre, German resistance fighter during World War II
- Ludwig Gumplowicz, Polish sociologist, jurist, historian, and political scientist
- Ludwig Kaiser, ring name of German professional wrestler Marcel Barthel
- Ludwig Leichhardt, Prussian explorer
- Ludwig Minelli, Swiss lawyer and euthanasia activist
- Ludwig Müller, German leader of the Protestant Reich Church
- Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen, German Lutheran missionary to North Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, who translated the New Testament into the native Batak language; the first Ephorus of the Batak Christian Protestant Church
- Ludwig Ortiz, Venezuelan judoka
- Ludwig Roselius, German coffee baron and company founder
- Ludwig Rödl, German chess master
- Ludwig Rübekeil, German philologist
- Ludwig Trepte, German actor
- Ludwig Zamenhof, 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
- Ludwig, in the video game Bloodborne
- Ludwig, the villain of the former Busch Gardens Williamsburg attraction The Curse of Darkastle
- Ludwig von Aegir, a major antagonist in Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
- Dr. Ludwig, otherwise known as the Medic, from Team Fortress 2
- Ludwig, a minor villain in ''The Cuphead Show''