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ArchivesPopularity of Lorelei in German-Speaking Countries?
I've noticed lately that the popularity of the name Lorelei is increasing slightly in the U.S. However, I looked on several German web sites and I can't find it on the list anywhere as far as popularity is concerned. It doesn't seem like it's a name that's used in German-speaking countries, and yet the name itself has German origins. That kind of worries me. Is there something about the name (perhaps the siren association) that causes people to not want to use it? Are there negative perceptions tied to it? Or is it just because more and more countries are going with classic/multi-cultural names (Julia vs. Wilhelmina)?
I just don't want to be one of those people who chooses a name based on one thing, and it ends up having completely different associations. One of the reasons I like Lorelei is for its Germanic roots. But if they won't even use it, what does that say about the name? Please help!
I just don't want to be one of those people who chooses a name based on one thing, and it ends up having completely different associations. One of the reasons I like Lorelei is for its Germanic roots. But if they won't even use it, what does that say about the name? Please help!
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Replies
The siren Lorelei is a pretty sinister character: she uses her song to entrance people going down the Rhine river in their boats, until they crash on the rocks and drown. I'm guessing that is the reason why Lorelei, thought a very pretty name, isn't used as a first name in Germany.
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Zero, I'd say. This might have to do not only with associations of the rock and the siren, but also with the fact that in Germany, names have to be acknowledged as names by the authorities, and this one would be rather, erm, unconventional. I wouldn't consider it a name, frankly.
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I've only seen the name Lorelei once here in Sweden (OK, we're not an English-speaking country...) and that was on a Latin American girl.
Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the lights
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We have to invade Aghan...Afagahn...Afganh...Afghna...Affg...Iraq ~ Dubya
Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the lights
~Albus Dumbledore
We have to invade Aghan...Afagahn...Afganh...Afghna...Affg...Iraq ~ Dubya
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Loreley has never (see below) been used as a personal name in Germany. It's the name of a slate rock on the river Rhine (near St. Goarshausen). It means something like "slate rock as a lookout". This name has been misinterpreted following the name LORE, and thus the whole story came up: It was Brentano who first wrote (down) the legend of the beautiful girl with the long blond hair.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorelei
Wilfried Seibicke* lists one (!) person in Germany bearing the name LORELEY (born in 1993):
Loreley w, Name eines Schieferfelsens am rechten Rheinufer oberhalb von St. Goarshausen (Bedeutung etwa ‘Schieferfelsen, von dem man Ausschau hält’); „[d]ie junge, erst von Clemens Brentano (Ballade von der Lore Lay) geschaffene und dann von Eichendorff, Heine u. a. gestaltete Sage von der Hexe oder Fee Loreley beruht auf einer romantischen Umdeutung des Namens in Anlehnung an den Frauennamen Lore,“ BERGER (s.u.) 172; auch ital. (DE FELICE 1992, 237f.)
Bel.: Konstanz 1993 FVN, Ztg.
BERGER, Dieter: „Geographische Namen in Deutschland“, Mannheim u.a. 1993 (= Duden-Taschenbuch 25)
(Translation see above)
*Wilfried Seibicke: Historisches Deutsches Vornamenbuch I-IV, 2000 ff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorelei
Wilfried Seibicke* lists one (!) person in Germany bearing the name LORELEY (born in 1993):
Loreley w, Name eines Schieferfelsens am rechten Rheinufer oberhalb von St. Goarshausen (Bedeutung etwa ‘Schieferfelsen, von dem man Ausschau hält’); „[d]ie junge, erst von Clemens Brentano (Ballade von der Lore Lay) geschaffene und dann von Eichendorff, Heine u. a. gestaltete Sage von der Hexe oder Fee Loreley beruht auf einer romantischen Umdeutung des Namens in Anlehnung an den Frauennamen Lore,“ BERGER (s.u.) 172; auch ital. (DE FELICE 1992, 237f.)
Bel.: Konstanz 1993 FVN, Ztg.
BERGER, Dieter: „Geographische Namen in Deutschland“, Mannheim u.a. 1993 (= Duden-Taschenbuch 25)
(Translation see above)
*Wilfried Seibicke: Historisches Deutsches Vornamenbuch I-IV, 2000 ff.
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Hi Serendipity,
I've never met or heard of anyone named Lorelei or Loreley in Germany.
My first association is the rock named Loreley and then the siren.
Another reason for the rare usage today might be that names containing Lore- or -lore sound very old fashioned in German.
/ Satu
http://www.nordicnames.de/
I've never met or heard of anyone named Lorelei or Loreley in Germany.
My first association is the rock named Loreley and then the siren.
Another reason for the rare usage today might be that names containing Lore- or -lore sound very old fashioned in German.
/ Satu
http://www.nordicnames.de/
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