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Help[Facts] Lilou
Since posting the link to popular French names, I have had some questions from others about the name Lilou, which is now very popular for infant girls in France. Some references I have found simply refer to the character in the 1997 film The Fifth Element as the origin of the name. (In English language credits, this was spelled "Leeloo", but that would come out as Lilou in French.) However, I have found other claims that Lilou was originally a Provencal pet form of Liliane. Does anyone from France know if the latter interpretation is correct, or if there are some other culture influences in France that could explain the origin of this name? (Obviously its popularity is linked to the present fashionability of Lou and Lou-Anne as French given names.)
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It is very very possible.
In Occitan (the Provençal is an Occitan dialect) one of the ways to make diminutive forms is with the sufix [u] (-oo), spelled -o in Occitan and -ou in Frenchisied spellings.
Here you have some examples of this kind of diminutives in Occitan:
http://perso.orange.fr/filsdebelesta09/contenu/pageoccitane.htm
In Catalan (the "twin language" of the Occitan), for instance, the suffix -ó (pronounced [o] -oh- in many dialects but [u] -oo- in Roussillon dialect, in contact with Occitan language) is used for both genders names, and nicknames as Margaridó (Maggie) or Rosó (Rosie) are usual. I'm sure that in Occitan the situation is the same, but I haven't any evidence (nicknames are strange in names books or in written documentation).
In the case of Liliane, it is not a traditional Occitan name (then it is not odd the "inexistence" of evidences of its use and of its nicknames), but the Occitan form would be Liliana/Liliano (depending of the dialectal spelling) and the nickname could be *Lilio (pronounced [lili'u])>*Lilo (pronounced [li'lu]), spelled à la Française as Lilou.
I don't know if Luc Besson knew the name or if it is just a coincidence.
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
In Occitan (the Provençal is an Occitan dialect) one of the ways to make diminutive forms is with the sufix [u] (-oo), spelled -o in Occitan and -ou in Frenchisied spellings.
Here you have some examples of this kind of diminutives in Occitan:
http://perso.orange.fr/filsdebelesta09/contenu/pageoccitane.htm
In Catalan (the "twin language" of the Occitan), for instance, the suffix -ó (pronounced [o] -oh- in many dialects but [u] -oo- in Roussillon dialect, in contact with Occitan language) is used for both genders names, and nicknames as Margaridó (Maggie) or Rosó (Rosie) are usual. I'm sure that in Occitan the situation is the same, but I haven't any evidence (nicknames are strange in names books or in written documentation).
In the case of Liliane, it is not a traditional Occitan name (then it is not odd the "inexistence" of evidences of its use and of its nicknames), but the Occitan form would be Liliana/Liliano (depending of the dialectal spelling) and the nickname could be *Lilio (pronounced [lili'u])>*Lilo (pronounced [li'lu]), spelled à la Française as Lilou.
I don't know if Luc Besson knew the name or if it is just a coincidence.
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
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Lilou / Leeloo became popular after the 5th element movie came out.
~~ Claire ~~
My ! are Alia, Eidel, Enola, Israel, Dudel, Yuri, Lina, Lorelei, Leilani, Owen, Julian, Glorinda, Mirinda
My ? are Hillel, Meshullam, Johnny, Ginny, Cordelia, Fiammetta, Yocheved
My ~ are Tehila, Tilda, Hailey, Gillian, Huldah
My / are Aglaia and July
~~ Claire ~~
My ! are Alia, Eidel, Enola, Israel, Dudel, Yuri, Lina, Lorelei, Leilani, Owen, Julian, Glorinda, Mirinda
My ? are Hillel, Meshullam, Johnny, Ginny, Cordelia, Fiammetta, Yocheved
My ~ are Tehila, Tilda, Hailey, Gillian, Huldah
My / are Aglaia and July
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