Lorelei

Where Lorelei comes from

Borrowed from German Lorelei (“murmuring rock or lurking rock”), but not used as a given name in Germany. The Lorelei (or Lorelei, Loreleï, Lore Lay, Lore-Ley, Lurley, Lurelei, Lurlei) is an infamous maritime disaster site because of the Rhine's current and the surrounding terrain. The shipwrecks have been subject to mythological explanation attempts since around 900 AD.
— Wiktionary's entry for Lorelei
  • German
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1916
    First appearance
    #4,417 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1981
    Lorelei Lee born
    American pornographic actress and writer
  3. 1994
    Lorelei Linklater born
    American actress
  4. 2022
    Peak, #441
    715 babies named Lorelei — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from German.
Namesakes
  • Lorelei Lee · American pornographic actress and writer, born 1981
  • Lorelei Linklater · American actress, born 1994
  • Lorelei King · American actress and screenwriter, born 1967
  • Lorelei Bachman · Canadian writer and songwriter, born 1973
  • Lorelei Nicoll · Canadian politician

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.