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ArchivesRe: what is the meaning of my name
in reply to a message by Lorelei
Does anyone know the origin and meaning of the name LORELEI???
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Lorelei;
My wife and I just had a girl this summer, and named her Lorelei Oriana.. I know another Lorelei, and liked the name because it's German, and sounds very lovely and floral (Oriana means "Golden Dawn", so the baby-name books tell us) I've been looking into the meaning or root of the name, too. We hear a lot about the Rhine Maiden/Siren, which is the common legend of the name, but I have to believe that it goes further back than that. I like to think it harkens to the 'Laurel' Flower, but have no evidence of it.
If you haven't heard the legend, a search will do better than my memory, but I'll say that there is a narrow, cliff-bound section of the Rhine, where stands the 'Lorelei Stone', and where, supposedly the Siren Lorelei distracted the sailors in this dangerous narrows, and they would fall in love with her, and crash their ships and drown. I think there is more to 'Sirens' than this Femme Fatale shorthand that is all we hear of such legends today.
At her first BBQ this summer, my Dad was wise and kind, addressing her as a 'River Goddess'. It'll do for now, til I hear something more definitive.
Let me know if you hear any stories that go farther back.
Oh, one definition simply said "From the Rhine".. and it may be that simple. We'll see.
Bob Fiske - Maine
My wife and I just had a girl this summer, and named her Lorelei Oriana.. I know another Lorelei, and liked the name because it's German, and sounds very lovely and floral (Oriana means "Golden Dawn", so the baby-name books tell us) I've been looking into the meaning or root of the name, too. We hear a lot about the Rhine Maiden/Siren, which is the common legend of the name, but I have to believe that it goes further back than that. I like to think it harkens to the 'Laurel' Flower, but have no evidence of it.
If you haven't heard the legend, a search will do better than my memory, but I'll say that there is a narrow, cliff-bound section of the Rhine, where stands the 'Lorelei Stone', and where, supposedly the Siren Lorelei distracted the sailors in this dangerous narrows, and they would fall in love with her, and crash their ships and drown. I think there is more to 'Sirens' than this Femme Fatale shorthand that is all we hear of such legends today.
At her first BBQ this summer, my Dad was wise and kind, addressing her as a 'River Goddess'. It'll do for now, til I hear something more definitive.
Let me know if you hear any stories that go farther back.
Oh, one definition simply said "From the Rhine".. and it may be that simple. We'll see.
Bob Fiske - Maine
1