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ArchivesFirst use of MARLENE
This site's entry for MARLENE says:
"The name was first used by the German actress and singer Marlene Dietrich, whose real name was Maria Magdalene von Losch."
But according to:
Wilfried Seibicke: Historisches Deutsches Vornamenbuch I-IV, 2000 ff.
the names MARLENE and MARLENA turn up a lot earlier:
"Marlena, -e w, KF (Kontraktion) von Maria Magdalena (s. a. DS 1993, 106); Var.: Marle(e)n, Marla, Marlène
Bel.: Landkreis Harburg 1648: 7,8%, 1668: 15,9% (3.Pl.), 1688: 10,0% (4. Pl.), 1708: 13,2% (2. Pl.), danach nicht mehr, RIECKMANN 234; Sophia M. Janßen 1689 Hannover, ZODER I, 805; Ahrensburg vor 1760, WULF 92; Sophia M. Müller, geb. 1798 Wittingen, Mutter: Maria Magdalena Wilhelm. M. geb. Mohr, Geneal. 1986, 51; der Name „findet sich viel im 18. Jahrhundert“, SCHÜTTE 19 ..."
If this is true, the entry on this page should be changed.
"The name was first used by the German actress and singer Marlene Dietrich, whose real name was Maria Magdalene von Losch."
But according to:
Wilfried Seibicke: Historisches Deutsches Vornamenbuch I-IV, 2000 ff.
the names MARLENE and MARLENA turn up a lot earlier:
"Marlena, -e w, KF (Kontraktion) von Maria Magdalena (s. a. DS 1993, 106); Var.: Marle(e)n, Marla, Marlène
Bel.: Landkreis Harburg 1648: 7,8%, 1668: 15,9% (3.Pl.), 1688: 10,0% (4. Pl.), 1708: 13,2% (2. Pl.), danach nicht mehr, RIECKMANN 234; Sophia M. Janßen 1689 Hannover, ZODER I, 805; Ahrensburg vor 1760, WULF 92; Sophia M. Müller, geb. 1798 Wittingen, Mutter: Maria Magdalena Wilhelm. M. geb. Mohr, Geneal. 1986, 51; der Name „findet sich viel im 18. Jahrhundert“, SCHÜTTE 19 ..."
If this is true, the entry on this page should be changed.
1
Replies
On a related note, somewhere in Dickens there's a character who invented the name "Morleena" for the special distinction of his daughter ... presumably a blend of Maureen and one of the -ena names. Clearly not a forerunner of Marlene, but a sign of what can happen when parents do name mergers.
The 18th century seems to have been an interesting period for naming babies, at least in Britain, with German names echoing the royal family, former nicknames like Polly being used as given names, and - I think this was in an old edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Christian Names - the truly horrible Frusannah, a mixture of Frances and Susannah. Presumably it must have been used more than once to show up on the statistics ... and perhaps it was part of a trend that also includes your German merger names?
The 18th century seems to have been an interesting period for naming babies, at least in Britain, with German names echoing the royal family, former nicknames like Polly being used as given names, and - I think this was in an old edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Christian Names - the truly horrible Frusannah, a mixture of Frances and Susannah. Presumably it must have been used more than once to show up on the statistics ... and perhaps it was part of a trend that also includes your German merger names?
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