Aloysia

Aloysia is the Latinate feminine form of Aloysius, itself a Latinization of the Old Occitan name Alois, which derives from the Old High German name Hluwig, composed of the elements hlud meaning famous and wig meaning war. The name is closely associated with Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, a sixteenth-century Italian Jesuit patron of youth, whose veneration helped spread the masculine form across Catholic Europe. Aloysia has remained comparatively rare, used mainly in German-speaking Catholic communities as a formal feminine counterpart to the more common masculine line. Related forms include Louisa, Louise, and the masculine Aloysius and Lewis.