Louisville Unearthed: Why our city's name is not pronounced "Lou-uh-vul"

King Louis XVI, before he lost his head.

I talked with an out-of-town couple just the other day who asked the question, “How do you pronounce Louisville? We talked to someone earlier and she said it’s ‘Lou-uh-vul.’”

My response? “She is wrong.”

A former king of France, dating back to the 1780s, was a friend to the early American colonies. As part of the Treaty of Paris, he cut a deal with a guy named Benjamin Franklin to send aid to said colonies in the form of supplies and soldiers, helping the new country called the United States of America to maintain its independence from England.

Our founding fathers thought that was a super cool move on his part, so the decision was made to name a new American settlement after him which, at the time, was part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Shortly thereafter, that settlement and surrounding territory was ratified as the Commonwealth of Kentucky. That settlement was Louisville.

The King? Well, that was King Louis XVI. Yes, that’s how Louisville got its name – from a French king named Louis. Guess what? Louis, and all his French subjects, pronounced his name like “Louie.” And that’s why our city is named Louisville – pronounced, “Lou-ee-ville” and not “Lou-uh-vul.”

Unfortunately, King Louis didn’t have a happy end to his life. He was the last king of France under the French monarchy, you see, and he was apparently a pretty sympathetic guy when it came to freedom. Not only did he help America with its independence, he also worked hard to abolish serfdom, remove the land tax and the labor tax, and increase tolerance toward non-Catholics, not to mention the abolition of the death penalty for French deserters.

These weren’t popular ideas at the time, and the opposition of the French nobility and Louis’ liberal ideas, when combined, led to massive debt and a nationwide financial crisis in France. The aristocracy was blamed, and Louis and his wife – a woman you may have heard of named Marie Antoinette – were seen as part of that aristocracy. So, for all his trouble, King Louis XVI met an untimely and unfortunate fate – by way of the guillotine, along with his wife. This obviously was a bummer for them, and also is part of why we have the phrase, “Heads are gonna roll.” (Hey, it was 1793. That sort of stuff was still considered OK back then.)

Today, Louisville is sister cities with Montpelier, France, and a nearly-200-year-old statue of King Louis XVI, created by French sculptor Achille-Joseph Valois and gifted to the city in 1967, now stands 12 feet tall downtown at Louisville Metro Hall. Yes, we still are very much tied to the legacy of King Louis XVI. (Fortunately, the statue’s head is still attached.)

So, the next time you hear someone call the city “Lou-uh-vul,” you can point out to them that there was never a King Lou-uh XVI of France. And if you hear of someone telling a tourist otherwise, I hope you’ll correct them. I mean, come on – the guy got his head cut off for trying to make some changes designed to help others. Our city is named after this guy. He deserves better, and we sure don’t need outsiders mispronouncing our city’s name – goodness knows enough insiders are doing it already.

Every Friday, Louisville Unearthed will bring you an unusual fact, historical nugget, place, person, etc., that you may not know about our city.

This statue of King Louis XVI stands 12 feet tall downtown.