Lorraine
The story
Lorraine is a name drawn from a map: the region of eastern France whose name descends from Lotharingia, the realm of Lothar, a ninth-century Frankish king. It reached English speakers in the nineteenth century amid the vogue for elegant French place names, trailing associations of borderland courage, for Joan of Arc grew up on Lorraine's edge and the Cross of Lorraine later became the emblem of Free France. In America the name rose quickly after 1900 and peaked in the 1920s, the same era the jazz standard Sweet Lorraine began its long life in nightclubs and on records; we cannot prove the song lifted the name, but the two certainly kept company. Lorraine stayed popular through the 1950s, then slipped gradually to the quiet, steady level it holds today, a vintage beauty with a soft center and a long memory.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Lorraine peaked in the 1920s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
18,690 people · the #1,114 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 10,870 · median age 21
Among people named Lorraine living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 592 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Lorraine
Most people given the name Lorraine in the United States were born between 1940 and 1979. The Lorraine you meet today is most often in her 60s or 70s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Lorraine deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Lorraine truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Lorraine fits with your family’s names and surname.
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