Lorelei

What Lorelei means

Means “murmuring rock or lurking rock”

Borrowed from German Lorelei (“murmuring rock or lurking rock”), but not used as a given name in Germany.

Source: Wiktionary, “Lorelei” (revision 84387830), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Lorelei?

US: Steady: #449 in 2015, #441 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #845 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2022, when 715 girls got the name (#441 that year). First in the US records in 1916.

How common

• About 1 in 2,299 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 9,046 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WV (1.38 per 1,000 girls), OR (1.23 per 1,000 girls), NE (1.13 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Lorelei is #441 in the US and #1166 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Lorelei were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Lorelai926 US · 45 E&W
• Loralei65 US
• Loralai27 US
• Lorali21 US
• Loreli15 US
• Loralee8 US
• Lorely6 US
• Loreley5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Lorelei

Girls

• Evelyn#8Same root as Eileen, possibly meaning “radiance, beauty”^*
• Adelaide#289“noble + nature, character”^*
• Ava#11Editor’s note Down from #4 in 2015 to #11 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 210 US girls in the 2025 records
• Mia#6Editor’s note Steady in the US: #6 in 2015 and #6 in 2025. About 1 in 150 US girls in the 2025 records
• Emery#74Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #74 vs #1,197 in 2025
• Amelia#4“vigor, bravery”^*

For a brother

• Bruno#740“brown”^*
• Axel#79Editor’s note Up from #123 in 2015 to #79 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 410 US boys in the 2025 records
• Emery#814Editor’s note Down from #745 in 2015 to #814 in 2025 in the US
• Kai#93“warrior”^*
• Milo#119Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #288 in 2015, #119 in 2025
• Oliver#3Editor’s note Up from #19 in 2015 to #3 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 110 US boys in the 2025 records

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Germanic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Lorelei’s. Rank is US 2025.