Lorelei

[Methenyouplus4]

Is it pronounced Laura - lie? Also, if you used Laurie for short how would you spell it with this name? Just the same? Thanks.

It's not quite Laura-lie, the "Lora" sound is quicker, less drawn out. Think more "lorra-lie" (like a "lorra lorra laughs").

I think I'd go for Lori for short.

It's a great name.

Love it, Lori for short is better than laurie.

So would you pronounce the shorter version 'laurie' or more 'lorry' or a different way? Just wanted to be sure before I suggest the name to dh.

Lora-lie

I wanted this for dd, but DH (and DM!) were not keen. Tbh the mythical Lorelei were not very nice.

We had been considering Lauren/Laurie, but really like this too.

Mythical Lorelei??? Slinks away to check out Google...

Feminine water spirit from German mythology? In a marvel comic with Thor? Couldn't spot anything negative.

Also both women in the Gilmore Girls, or Best TV Show ever Rory in the show is actually Lorelai, Rory for short, which I love too.

I always thought Lorelei was pronounced lorra-lee, and Lorelai was more laura-lie. On Gilmore Girls (another big fan here!), Lorelai is pronounced with both lorra and laura.

Oh my goodness, the mind boggles! Lorelai sounds like the one I'm after. I'm another Gilmore Girls fan but had never thought about the spelling before.

Ah yes, checked and the character from GG is Lorelai. That's the pronunciation I was after too. Now I know I shall suggest it to Dh... I'll let you know how it goes...

I love it as another Gilmore fan

Heinrich Heine’s created a poem of her in 1822, Tr. Frank translated it to English in 1998.

The LoreleyEdit
I cannot determine the meaning
Of sorrow that fills my breast:
A fable of old, through it streaming,
Allows my mind no rest.
The air is cool in the gloaming
And gently flows the Rhine.
The crest of the mountain is gleaming
In fading rays of sunshine.
The loveliest maiden is sitting
Up there, so wondrously fair;
Her golden jewelry is glist'ning;
She combs her golden hair.
She combs with a gilded comb, preening,
And sings a song, passing time.
It has a most wondrous, appealing
And pow'rful melodic rhyme.
The boatman aboard his small skiff, -
Enraptured with a wild ache,
Has no eye for the jagged cliff, -
His thoughts on the heights fear forsake.
I think that the waves will devour
Both boat and man, by and by,
And that, with her dulcet-voiced power
Was done by the Loreley.

Not a friendly sprite then...

lorra-lie. wouldn't use it for anyone in the family.

If it's of interest, you can listen to German pronounciation here: www.forvo.com/word/lorelei/

More like Low-rehll-eye

Like it a lot! Reminds me of Marilyn Monroe's character in gentlemen prefer blondes. I would say it lor-uh-lie

The fable of Lorelei - German folklore

In 1801, German author Clemens Brentano composed his ballad Zu Bacharach am Rheine as part of a fragmentary continuation of his novel Godwi oder Das steinerne Bild der Mutter. It first told the story of an enchanting female associated with the rock. In the poem, the beautiful Lore Lay, betrayed by her sweetheart, is accused of bewitching men and causing their death. Rather than sentence her to death, the bishop consigns her to a nunnery. On the way thereto, accompanied by three knights, she comes to the Lorelei rock. She asks permission to climb it and view the Rhine once again. She does so and falls to her death; the rock still retained an echo of her name afterwards. Brentano had taken inspiration from Ovid and the Echo myth.

I LOVED Gilmore girls and I too adore the name Loralie. The good thing is it can as many people have said mean various nicknames.

Lora, Rory, Lori etc.

I met a gorgeous baby in a coffee shop the other day and her mum said she was called 'Lorra-lie' which I'm guessing is Lorelei (though the rock on the Rhine where the women in the legend sat is spelled Loreley).

Very pretty name.

Isn't 'Laura-lie' just 'Lorra-lie' in an American accent? (like on Gilmore Girls). I think if you want Lorelei/Lorelai said Laura-lie then most people in the UK aren't going to pronounce it that way on first glance. It is usually Lorra-lie here.

I much prefer the Lorelei spelling to Lorelai

Lorelei and Laurel-eye sound the same to me.

Laurie (the sound) is a great shortening but spelling the nn might be problematic - Lorrie maybe? Not Lorry.

The spelling in your OP is the one used by Heine, the German author, therefore in my mind it should be pronounced the German way, Low-rehll-eye

It's a very romantic but sad story. Anyway, I reckon by the time your DD grows up not many people will know where this name comes from, so just go with what you like

I have a Lorelai. I'm American and pronounce it Laura-lie. TBF most Brits have had to say it two or three times to get it but that could be down to my accent.

It was funny, I had never run into another Lorelai until I named DD. I actually ran into a little family at a funny farm in Wales: Grandma was named Lorelai, her daughter was one and her granddaughter. So including mine, there were 4 Lorelai's in the middle of the Welsh countryside at one time!

This may not matter in the slightest, but the 1920s novel 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' on which the movie (same title) starring Marilyn Monroe was based is a lot darker. The Lorelei character is meant to be glamorous, light-hearted, frivolous etc but to modern eyes is not particularly admirable. She's what they used to call a 'gold-digger'.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentlemen_Prefer_Blondes_%28novel%29