Lorelle
Feminine · “German lureln and ley”
The Lorelei is a rock on the Rhine and a siren who sits on it combing her hair. The rock is real and has been dangerous to shipping for centuries. The siren was invented in 1801 by Clemens Brentano, for a ballad, and has no folklore behind her at all.
How old is the name Lorelle?
Lorelle first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Lorelle alive today was born around 1972, making them about 53 years old. About 800 people named Lorelle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lorelle most popular?
Lorelle peaked in 1936, reaching #2386 nationally. Today it ranks #9457, 7,071 places below that high. See the whole 1936 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Lore Lay to Lorelle
The story of Lorelle
Clemens Brentano published a ballad in 1801 about a woman called Lore Lay, accused of bewitching men, who throws herself from the rock. There is no earlier tradition of any such figure; the rock had a name, an echo and a reputation for wrecking boats, and Brentano supplied a person. Other writers took it up, and Heinrich Heine's poem of 1824, set to music by Silcher in 1837, made her one of the best known figures in German culture: the girl combing golden hair at the top of the cliff while the boatman below looks up and is destroyed. It is now routinely described as an old Rhine legend. It is two hundred years old and has a named author, which is a useful check on how quickly an invention can become a tradition.
Meaningscholars disagree
German lureln and ley, murmuring rock
Lorelle is most likely built on Lorelei, the name of a slate rock above the Rhine near St Goarshausen, explained from a dialect verb meaning to murmur and ley, a rock or cliff. It may equally be Lora or Laura with the -elle ending. The legendary maiden associated with the rock is a nineteenth-century literary invention. The peak is 1936.
How the name formed
- Lore Lay
- Lorelei
- Lorelle
Related forms: Lorelei · Lorella
Pronouncing Lorelle
loh-REL
Two syllables, stress on the second. Lorelei, the German name, is three syllables ending in a long i sound, LOR-uh-lye.
Nicknames for Lorelle
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1915
- Most girls named
- 198020 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2386reached in 1936
- Change vs 2023
- +100.0%10 in 2025, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Lorelle in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lorelei in German — related form
- Lorella in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Pennsylvania.
Lorelles among us
people named Lorelle are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 160,727 born in 2025 was named Lorelle
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Natalina test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Lorelle's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Natalina climbed just as high around 1919, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Natalina's path sketches the road Lorelle is walking now.
Lorelle sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Lorelle beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lorelle in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Lori and Elle are both usable short forms.
- The stressed ending gives it a firm final beat.
- It is short while still sounding formal.
- Lorelei is far better known and said quite differently.
- The legend behind the source name is a modern invention.
- The 1936 peak places it in the mid-century.
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What they receive
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Lorelle
Feminine · #9457 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lorelles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Lorelle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lorelle in 2025?
- Lorelle ranks #9457 among US girl names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lorelle?
- About 1 in every 160,727 US girls born in 2025 was named Lorelle — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lorelle with classmates?
- Lorelle will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lorelle
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Leta#9457 · Inga#9457 · Delphia#9457 · Cammie#9457 · Lisandra#9457 · Amee#9457 · Venecia#9457 · Annetta#9457
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lorelle? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lorelle and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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