View Message

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.)