Lorilei
A blend of Lori or Laurie and Leigh or Leah, potentially meaning "laurel" or "crown".
Name Census estimates that about 244 living Americans carry the first name Lorilei. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lorilei today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lorilei births was 1968 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lorilei. 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
244
~ 1 in 1,404,731 Americans
Peak year
1968
13 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,489
Tracked since 1954
Popularity
Lorilei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lorilei from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 65 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lorilei 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 Lorilei during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lorileis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lorilei
The name Lorilei likely finds its origins in the German legend of the Lorelei, a beautiful but dangerous siren who lured sailors to their deaths with her enchanting song. The legend is centered around a massive rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine River near the town of St. Goarshausen.
The name itself is a combination of the German words "Lore" meaning "alluring" and "Lei" meaning "rock." The earliest recorded use of the name Lorelei dates back to the beginning of the 19th century when the German poet Clemens Brentano included the legend in his romantic novella "Godwi" published in 1801.
One of the earliest known Lorileis was Lorilei Reichert, a German opera singer born in 1835. She performed extensively throughout Europe in the mid-19th century. Another notable Lorilei was Lorilei Gillmore, an American actress born in 1905 who appeared in numerous Broadway productions and films in the 1920s and 1930s.
Lorilei Wilson, born in 1924, was an American actress and dancer known for her roles in several musicals and films during the 1940s and 1950s, including "On the Town" and "Kiss Me Kate." Lorilei King, born in 1954, is an American actress and voice artist who has provided voice work for numerous animated series and video games.
More recently, Lorilei Williams, born in 1971, is a Canadian actress and singer who has appeared in several television shows and films, including "The Butterfly Effect" and "Saw III." While not an extremely common name, Lorilei has maintained a presence throughout history, reflecting its origins in German folklore and literature.
People
Lorilei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lorilei 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
Lorilei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lorilei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 244 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lorilei 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 1,404,731 US residents.
Is Lorilei a common name?
We classify Lorilei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 270 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lorilei most popular?
The single biggest year for Lorilei was 1968, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lorilei is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lorilei a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lorilei 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.