Lorelie
A feminine name derived from the German "Lorelei", referring to a legendary siren or seductive mermaid.
Name Census estimates that about 319 living Americans carry the first name Lorelie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lorelie today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lorelie births was 2009 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lorelie. 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
319
~ 1 in 1,074,465 Americans
Peak year
2009
14 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,646
Tracked since 1928
Popularity
Lorelie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lorelie from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 72 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Lorelie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lorelie 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 Lorelie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lorelies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lorelie
The name Lorelie is a German variant of the name Lorelei, which originated from the region along the Rhine River in Germany. It is derived from the German words "luren" meaning "to lurk" and "lei" meaning "rock". The name refers to a legendary siren or mermaid who lured sailors to their doom with her enchanting song.
The Lorelei is a large rock formation located on the eastern bank of the Rhine River near the town of St. Goarshausen. The legend of the siren Lorelei has been mentioned in various German poems and folktales dating back to the early 19th century. The most famous literary work featuring this legend is the poem "Die Lorelei" by Heinrich Heine, published in 1824.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Lorelie was Lorelie Frink (1854-1919), an American actress and singer who performed on the vaudeville circuit in the late 19th century. Another notable bearer of the name was Lorelie Bove (1939-2023), an American artist and sculptor known for her large-scale public art installations.
In the literary world, Lorelie Gilmore was the name of the main character in the novel "The Gilmore Girls" by Amy Sherman-Palladino, which later became the basis for the popular television series of the same name. The character, portrayed by actress Lauren Graham, was born in 1984.
In the field of music, Lorelie Lee (1923-2010) was an American singer and actress who performed in various Broadway musicals and Hollywood films during the 1940s and 1950s. She is best known for her role in the 1949 film "On the Town".
Lastly, Lorelie Thomazi (born 1987) is a Brazilian fashion model and actress who has appeared in various international campaigns and television shows. She has been featured on the cover of magazines such as Vogue and Elle.
People
Lorelie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lorelie 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
Lorelie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lorelie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 319 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lorelie 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 1,074,465 US residents.
Is Lorelie a common name?
We classify Lorelie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 416 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lorelie most popular?
The single biggest year for Lorelie was 2009, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lorelie is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lorelie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lorelie 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.