Lorelei
A German feminine name referring to a siren or Rhine maiden.
Name Census estimates that about 15,951 living Americans carry the first name Lorelei. It sits at #456 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lorelei today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lorelei births was 2016 (716 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lorelei. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
16K
~ 1 in 21,488 Americans
Peak year
2016
716 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#456
Tracked since 1916
Popularity
Lorelei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lorelei from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 6,407 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Lorelei remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lorelei by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Lorelei during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Loreleis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Lorelei, while South Dakota, District of Columbia, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 300 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lorelei
The name Lorelei originates from the Germanic languages and is derived from the combination of the words "lore" meaning "murmur" or "luring song" and "lei" meaning "rock". It is associated with a legendary rock formation along the Rhine River in Germany, known as the Lorelei Rock.
The first recorded use of the name can be traced back to the medieval legend of a beautiful maiden named Lorelei who was abandoned by her lover. Heartbroken, she threw herself into the Rhine River and was transformed into a siren whose enchanting songs lured sailors to their deaths on the treacherous rocks. This legend was popularized in the 19th century by the German writer Clemens Brentano and the poet Heinrich Heine.
One of the earliest notable bearers of the name Lorelei was Lorelei Gilmore, a character in the American television series Gilmore Girls, which aired from 2000 to 2007. The name gained popularity after the show's success.
In literary history, Lorelei was the title character in the novel Lorelei by Zane Grey, published in 1915. The novel is set in the American West and follows the adventures of a young woman named Lorelei.
In music, Lorelei is the name of a character in the opera "The Pirates of Penzance" by Gilbert and Sullivan, first performed in 1879. The character is a beautiful but conniving young woman who tricks the pirates into freeing her.
Another notable bearer of the name Lorelei was Lorelei Redding, the daughter of the legendary American singer-songwriter Otis Redding. Born in 1967, she is a musician and songwriter in her own right and has released several albums.
While the name Lorelei has its roots in German folklore, it has gained popularity in various cultures around the world, particularly in the English-speaking world, due to its unique and intriguing sound and association with the captivating legend.
People
Lorelei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lorelei as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lorelei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lorelei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,951 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lorelei going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 21,488 US residents.
Is Lorelei a common name?
We classify Lorelei as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17,482 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lorelei most popular?
The single biggest year for Lorelei was 2016, when 716 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lorelei is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lorelei a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lorelei in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.