Saturday, November 3, 2012

Name Lore

Photography by Glow Portraits, crown available at etsy

A couple of weeks ago I met a guy called Lor. Yes, that's his real name, not a nickname. The story behind his name as he tells it is that his "hippy" dad was determined to name him Lord Michael. When he went to get the name registered, he was of course told that you can't give a child the name Lord in Australia. Because Australia is part of the Commonwealth and ruled by the Queen we cannot use names that are official titles. So of course his dad just crossed out the "D" and triumphantly handed back the paperwork. And just like that, a baby boy was given the unusual name of Lor Michael. 
This has gotten me to thinking about Lor names in general. I quite like the sound, and one of my first thoughts was that Lore would actually be quite a cool name. It would fit in well with some of the other bookish names such as Story, Fable, Saga and Legend.

But if you like a bit more "substance" (i.e. length) to your names, I'd have to say that my top boys pick is Lorcan and my top girls pick is Lorelei.

Lorcan (pronounced LOHR-can) is an Irish/Gaelic name meaning 'little fierce one'. I think it sounds as if it stepped off the pages of a fantasy novel, and could end up giving Aidan a run for his money if given a chance and the right attention. One of the two most recognised Lorcans is Lorcan Ua Tuathail, an Irish saint who lived from 1128 to 1180. He is the patron saint of Dublin, and was also known as St Laurence O'Toole. The other well known Lorcan is actor Peter O'Toole's son, Lorcan O'Toole (also an actor). Apparently he was going to be given the name Luke, until his father had a dream in which he was told his name should be Lorcan. Lorcan is also dad Peter's second middle name.

Like many other girls (I suspect) I fell in love with the name Lorelei when watching 'The Gilmore Girls'. Before then Lorelei had always seemed like a much to fanciful name, especially considering it's origins. Lorelei (pronounced LOH-re-liy) is derived from the German name Lurlei which is a combination of the words luren (to watch) and lei (a cliff or rock). There is a legend that Lorelei was a beautiful siren who sat upon the rocks and lured sailors to their death, much like the sirens encountered by Odysseus in his journey. Hence the variation Lorelei is said to mean 'alluring temptress'.

While this may have been true of the Lorelei played by Marilyn Monroe in 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes', Lorelei Gilmore and her daughter Lorelei "Rory" made the name seem much warmer, friendlier and down to earth. And infinitely more usable.

Here are a few more names starting with or containing Lor that you might like.

         GIRLS               BOYS        
Annelore                                Bachelor
  Clorinda                               Chancelor
 Clorissa                                 Colorado
  Delora                                   Explorer
Elora                                     Florean
Flora                                     Florent
 Florence                                Florentino
Florinda                                    Florian
Glory                                    Halloran
Lorena                                     Lorand 
Loretta                                    Lorant
   Lori                                      Loretto
Lorice                                        Loric
Lorikeet                                  Lorimer
Lorinda                                    Lorin
  Lorna                                      Loring
Lorraine                                     Lorne
Mallory                                    Lorren
 Melora                                    Lorenzo
Sailor                                      Lorrenz
Saylor                                      Naylor
Taylor                                       Tylor
Valora                                       Valor

Then there are also those that have the Lor sound, such as Laura and Laurence, but that would mean I'd be here all night :) What would be your top Lor names?


4 comments:

  1. What a great name story. Lor is certainly an intriguing name. I have a thing for Fable, Saga and Story as a nickname for Astoria, so Lore is joining them! I suppose I could group Rune and Runa into that category.

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    1. Ooh, love the idea of Astoria with the nickname Story!

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  2. Lor! How fab. I've always like Lore - it's my favourite nickname for Eleanor.

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  3. The second part of that story is quite cool as well. At some point his Grandmother acquired a title and passed it onto him, so his name is now Lord Lor Michael (I won't give the last name, but it actually has a suitably aristocratic feel to it, so the whole thing works quite well).

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