Ahh, Narelle . . .
You're right about the incorrect information problem. People make the exact same mistakes about "Aboriginal" as "American Indian": they assume that there's one language for all, and they randomly attribute untraceable names to these cultures, for no logical reason.LadyLisa's comment drew my eye as I'm also from Western Australia, and I have just posted the following response:Firstly, "Koori" is a tribal name from New South Wales and Victoria. The Aboriginal people of the Perth region are the Nyoongar.Secondly, I have never seen any reference to Narelle as a Western Australian name. There is a town named Naraling which was named for a nearby spring (not lake), but the meaning of the spring's name is unknown. Watering places in the Nyoongar region tend to have been indicated by the syllable "up" at the end of the place name.
On to what I do know: there *is* a place named Narellan, a former village that is now an outer Sydney suburb. I did a heritage plan for it a few years ago, but sadly I couldn't find out the origin of the name. I have no idea whether Narelle is related.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narellan,_New_South_WalesI found the following women named Narelle whose births were recorded in New South Wales between 1788 and 1906:1890: WILSON, NARELLE O. Father: WILLIAM J. Mother: CAROLINE M M. Parish: LISMORE1890: TINGCOMBE, NARELLE L. Father: JOHN L. Mother: ADA. Parish: WOOLLAHRA1894: ARMSTRONG, NARELLE. Father: WILLIAM C. Mother: FLORENCE E. Parish: LEICHHARDT 1900: BEAMES, NARELLE B. Father: ROBERT D. Mother: ADA M E. Parish: ST LEONARDS.1900: CRAPP, NARELLE. Father: CHARLES J. Mother: MAUD E. Parish: MORUYA1906: FORD, NARELLE A. Father: WILLIAM. Mother: ANN. Parish: REDFERN.1906: WOODBRIDGE, NARELLE. Father: JAMES A. Mother: JANET. Parish: BURWOODWoollahra, Leichhardt, St Leonards, Redfern and Burwood are all Sydney parishes (all reasonably close to the city proper). Lismore and Moruya are rural. None are anywhere near Narellan.I found those here: http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/Index/IndexingOrder.cgi/search?event=birthsThat's all I've got so far, but I'll let you know if I think of anything else. I've known about half a dozen Narelles, so the name interests me.
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Messages

Narelle, the mystery Australian name  ·  Cleveland Kent Evans  ·  6/17/2007, 1:14 PM
Ahh, Narelle . . .  ·  Chrisell  ·  6/18/2007, 5:03 AM
Re: Ahh, Narelle . . .  ·  Cleveland Kent Evans  ·  6/19/2007, 8:55 PM
Re: Ahh, Narelle . . .  ·  Chrisell  ·  6/19/2007, 11:27 PM
Re: Ahh, Narelle . . .  ·  Anneza  ·  6/18/2007, 7:10 AM
Re: Ahh, Narelle . . .  ·  Chrisell  ·  6/18/2007, 8:06 AM
Re: Ahh, Narelle . . .  ·  Anneza  ·  6/18/2007, 10:44 PM
Re: Ahh, Narelle . . .  ·  Chrisell  ·  6/19/2007, 11:24 PM
Re: Emmarentia  ·  Cleveland Kent Evans  ·  6/19/2007, 9:10 AM
Oh, is *that* where Emerence comes from?  ·  Chrisell  ·  6/19/2007, 11:22 PM
OT but one of the Chalet School series?  ·  Poppylena  ·  6/20/2007, 12:49 AM
Got it in one :-D  ·  Chrisell  ·  6/20/2007, 12:56 AM
She was in others too  ·  Poppylena  ·  6/20/2007, 2:02 AM
Re: Emmarentia  ·  Anneza  ·  6/19/2007, 10:51 PM
Re: Narelle, the mystery Australian name  ·  Nicola  ·  6/18/2007, 5:01 AM
It's older than 1950s - see my post :-) nt  ·  Chrisell  ·  6/18/2007, 5:04 AM
Yep, you just blew my theory right out of the water! ;) nt  ·  Nicola  ·  6/18/2007, 5:06 AM