Lorelei

So, I apparently have this strangely unique but popular name.    I have been asked throughout my adulthood if I have been named after songs, movie characters and German folklore.     Just now, a woman from our company’s cleaning service just came up to me and asked if I was by chance part Romanian, because there is a beautiful Romanian love story called “Lorelei”.   

Of course, I had to Google it.     Which lead me to decide, I am going to now put together a list of all of the references to Lorelei that people have provided to me over the course of the past 10 years.

• Gilmour Girls main character
• Eagle Eyed Cherry song – When Mermaids Cry
• Styx song – Lorelei – I’m often asked if I was named after this song
• German Folklore, Heinrich Heine’s poem (Die Loreley) and a rock/location on Rhine River
• Romanian love story by Ionel Teodoreanu
• Marilyn Monroe’s character in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes“
• Lorelei, the mermaid in “Beach Blanket Bingo“
• The name of the 1974 musical, “Lorelei“
• And now, a pub exclusive beer at Great Lakes Brewing Company, a Dunkel Weizen that happens to be very tasty

Pretty much any of these that ocurred during or prior to the late 1970′s I’ve been asked if that’s the origin of my name.    The funny thing is, I am supposedly named after an author who my dad interviewed on a radio show in the 70′s, who I have yet to be able to find this person’s name.   He apparently liked the name so much he decided to name me Lorelei.    He passed away when I was 14 year old however, so I may never know my namesake.    Any ideas regarding an author named Lorelei in the Cleveland, Ohio area around 1979?

Until next time,

Lorelei