Does anyone have a child named Loralai (same spelling)?
My grandaughter was born on July 25, 2012 in Prague, Czech Republic. They called her Loralai but the government oversees the spelling of baby names and rejected this spelling and told them that they had to spell it Lorelei. Since my son is Canadain, he was told if he can prove that this spelling is a Canadain/American deriviative of Lorelei, that they maybe able to keep the spelling as is . He has asked me to help him but I have had no luck finding anyone with this particular spelling so I am asking for you help. Some people have told me that they should just change it but they feel that it is not an offensive spelling and that they should be able to choose the particular spelling of their daughter's name. Until it is settled. her birth can not be registered. Thanks everyone in advance for any advice or help you can give me.
Jean
Tue, 08/14/2012 - 8:08am
Replies
Does this help at all?
http://www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/girl/loralai
Thank you for your suggestion but I bought the book "A World of Baby Names" that was advertised on the babyname wizard site but it was not actually listed in the book! I bought it with the intentions of sending it to my son and was very disappointed when I didn't find the actual spelling in the book, only other other spellings of the name.
According to the Social Security Administration, 13 baby girls were named Loralai in the U.S. in 2011. It has been used for 1-2 dozen baby girls every year of late: 2010 had 24, 2009 had 12, 2008 had 23. You can look further back by downloading the "beyond the top 1000" data from the SSA's website (http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/limits.html).
Does the Czech registration office require some level of popularity for a spelling, or will that suffice?
I know two little girls named Lorelei, but as far as I know, both use the standard spelling. It's a surprisingly hard name to spell, though -- I'm pretty sure the grandmother of one of the little girls gets it wrong about 75% of the time. (Spelling was never her strong suit.) This is why I would strongly recommend going with the standard spelling; it'll give people half a chance at getting it right.
Thank you for letting me know about this site.....I will forward it on to my son! I don't believe it has to do with popularity but more about tradition. The Czech Republic was communist until the mid 80's, therefore many of the laws are still based on this ideology. The person that actually oversees the birth names, is in her eighties and has held this job for many decades, most of them under communist rule, which would explain her denial of this particular spelling. If anyone else has any suggestion, it would be greatly appreciated.
Here are the only years it is in the SSA data for:
yob2001.txt:Loralai,F,5
yob2002.txt:Loralai,F,11
yob2003.txt:Loralai,F,9
yob2004.txt:Loralai,F,7
yob2005.txt:Loralai,F,13
yob2006.txt:Loralai,F,20
yob2007.txt:Loralai,F,25
yob2008.txt:Loralai,F,23
yob2009.txt:Loralai,F,12
yob2010.txt:Loralai,F,24
yob2011.txt:Loralai,F,13
Compare to:
yob2001.txt:Lorelai,F,20
yob2002.txt:Lorelai,F,68
yob2003.txt:Lorelai,F,87
yob2004.txt:Lorelai,F,99
yob2005.txt:Lorelai,F,186
yob2006.txt:Lorelai,F,262
yob2007.txt:Lorelai,F,321
yob2008.txt:Lorelai,F,312
yob2009.txt:Lorelai,F,363
yob2010.txt:Lorelai,F,370
yob2011.txt:Lorelai,F,336
And:
yob1940.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1949.txt:Loralei,F,6
yob1952.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1953.txt:Loralei,F,7
yob1958.txt:Loralei,F,9
yob1960.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1961.txt:Loralei,F,11
yob1962.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1963.txt:Loralei,F,6
yob1966.txt:Loralei,F,7
yob1967.txt:Loralei,F,6
yob1968.txt:Loralei,F,8
yob1975.txt:Loralei,F,6
yob1976.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1977.txt:Loralei,F,7
yob1978.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1985.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1989.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1990.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1993.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1994.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1997.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1998.txt:Loralei,F,5
yob1999.txt:Loralei,F,8
yob2001.txt:Loralei,F,16
yob2002.txt:Loralei,F,24
yob2003.txt:Loralei,F,42
yob2004.txt:Loralei,F,52
yob2005.txt:Loralei,F,53
yob2006.txt:Loralei,F,57
yob2007.txt:Loralei,F,75
yob2008.txt:Loralei,F,57
yob2009.txt:Loralei,F,81
yob2010.txt:Loralei,F,98
yob2011.txt:Loralei,F,108
Other variants that share the "a":
yob2002.txt:Loralye,F,7
yob2003.txt:Loralye,F,9
yob2005.txt:Loralye,F,12
yob2006.txt:Loralye,F,7
yob2007.txt:Loralye,F,7
yob2008.txt:Loralye,F,11
yob2009.txt:Loralye,F,10
yob2010.txt:Loralye,F,24
yob2011.txt:Loralye,F,22
And:
yob1925.txt:Loralie,F,5
yob1938.txt:Loralie,F,9
yob1939.txt:Loralie,F,6
yob1940.txt:Loralie,F,8
yob1942.txt:Loralie,F,6
yob1943.txt:Loralie,F,6
yob1945.txt:Loralie,F,6
yob1948.txt:Loralie,F,6
yob1949.txt:Loralie,F,7
yob1950.txt:Loralie,F,11
yob1951.txt:Loralie,F,9
yob1953.txt:Loralie,F,10
yob1954.txt:Loralie,F,6
yob1955.txt:Loralie,F,7
yob1956.txt:Loralie,F,9
yob1957.txt:Loralie,F,6
yob1958.txt:Loralie,F,8
yob1959.txt:Loralie,F,9
yob1960.txt:Loralie,F,8
yob1961.txt:Loralie,F,7
yob1962.txt:Loralie,F,7
yob1963.txt:Loralie,F,11
yob1964.txt:Loralie,F,11
yob1965.txt:Loralie,F,24
yob1966.txt:Loralie,F,21
yob1967.txt:Loralie,F,11
yob1968.txt:Loralie,F,13
yob1969.txt:Loralie,F,8
yob1970.txt:Loralie,F,8
yob1971.txt:Loralie,F,8
yob1972.txt:Loralie,F,10
yob1973.txt:Loralie,F,7
yob1974.txt:Loralie,F,9
yob1975.txt:Loralie,F,13
yob1976.txt:Loralie,F,9
yob1977.txt:Loralie,F,6
yob1978.txt:Loralie,F,11
yob1980.txt:Loralie,F,6
yob1981.txt:Loralie,F,9
yob1982.txt:Loralie,F,8
yob1984.txt:Loralie,F,5
yob1985.txt:Loralie,F,5
yob2001.txt:Loralie,F,6
yob2002.txt:Loralie,F,12
yob2003.txt:Loralie,F,16
yob2004.txt:Loralie,F,12
yob2005.txt:Loralie,F,22
yob2006.txt:Loralie,F,32
yob2007.txt:Loralie,F,30
yob2008.txt:Loralie,F,26
yob2009.txt:Loralie,F,23
yob2010.txt:Loralie,F,35
yob2011.txt:Loralie,F,26
And:
yob1958.txt:Lorali,F,5
yob1959.txt:Lorali,F,6
yob2001.txt:Lorali,F,8
yob2002.txt:Lorali,F,10
yob2003.txt:Lorali,F,20
yob2004.txt:Lorali,F,15
yob2005.txt:Lorali,F,19
yob2006.txt:Lorali,F,20
yob2007.txt:Lorali,F,22
yob2008.txt:Lorali,F,29
yob2009.txt:Lorali,F,24
yob2010.txt:Lorali,F,22
yob2011.txt:Lorali,F,26
And:
yob2010.txt:Lauralai,F,5
yob2011.txt:Lauralai,F,7
As a comparison point, the traditional spelling:
yob1916.txt:Lorelei,F,5
yob1920.txt:Lorelei,F,5
yob1921.txt:Lorelei,F,10
yob1922.txt:Lorelei,F,6
yob1925.txt:Lorelei,F,7
yob1926.txt:Lorelei,F,16
yob1927.txt:Lorelei,F,18
yob1928.txt:Lorelei,F,56
yob1929.txt:Lorelei,F,36
yob1930.txt:Lorelei,F,27
yob1931.txt:Lorelei,F,17
yob1932.txt:Lorelei,F,17
yob1933.txt:Lorelei,F,18
yob1934.txt:Lorelei,F,19
yob1935.txt:Lorelei,F,15
yob1936.txt:Lorelei,F,11
yob1937.txt:Lorelei,F,26
yob1938.txt:Lorelei,F,121
yob1939.txt:Lorelei,F,83
yob1940.txt:Lorelei,F,59
yob1941.txt:Lorelei,F,82
yob1942.txt:Lorelei,F,79
yob1943.txt:Lorelei,F,42
yob1944.txt:Lorelei,F,38
yob1945.txt:Lorelei,F,48
yob1946.txt:Lorelei,F,44
yob1947.txt:Lorelei,F,59
yob1948.txt:Lorelei,F,66
yob1949.txt:Lorelei,F,69
yob1950.txt:Lorelei,F,81
yob1951.txt:Lorelei,F,111
yob1952.txt:Lorelei,F,114
yob1953.txt:Lorelei,F,142
yob1954.txt:Lorelei,F,176
yob1955.txt:Lorelei,F,143
yob1956.txt:Lorelei,F,137
yob1957.txt:Lorelei,F,142
yob1958.txt:Lorelei,F,113
yob1959.txt:Lorelei,F,109
yob1960.txt:Lorelei,F,115
yob1961.txt:Lorelei,F,111
yob1962.txt:Lorelei,F,109
yob1963.txt:Lorelei,F,117
yob1964.txt:Lorelei,F,97
yob1965.txt:Lorelei,F,113
yob1966.txt:Lorelei,F,102
yob1967.txt:Lorelei,F,97
yob1968.txt:Lorelei,F,73
yob1969.txt:Lorelei,F,87
yob1970.txt:Lorelei,F,75
yob1971.txt:Lorelei,F,53
yob1972.txt:Lorelei,F,52
yob1973.txt:Lorelei,F,48
yob1974.txt:Lorelei,F,62
yob1975.txt:Lorelei,F,63
yob1976.txt:Lorelei,F,71
yob1977.txt:Lorelei,F,64
yob1978.txt:Lorelei,F,77
yob1979.txt:Lorelei,F,68
yob1980.txt:Lorelei,F,53
yob1981.txt:Lorelei,F,56
yob1982.txt:Lorelei,F,54
yob1983.txt:Lorelei,F,41
yob1984.txt:Lorelei,F,44
yob1985.txt:Lorelei,F,54
yob1986.txt:Lorelei,F,41
yob1987.txt:Lorelei,F,32
yob1988.txt:Lorelei,F,23
yob1989.txt:Lorelei,F,31
yob1990.txt:Lorelei,F,41
yob1991.txt:Lorelei,F,44
yob1992.txt:Lorelei,F,40
yob1993.txt:Lorelei,F,40
yob1994.txt:Lorelei,F,30
yob1995.txt:Lorelei,F,24
yob1996.txt:Lorelei,F,39
yob1997.txt:Lorelei,F,39
yob1998.txt:Lorelei,F,34
yob1999.txt:Lorelei,F,44
yob2000.txt:Lorelei,F,63
yob2001.txt:Lorelei,F,99
yob2002.txt:Lorelei,F,202
yob2003.txt:Lorelei,F,226
yob2004.txt:Lorelei,F,248
yob2005.txt:Lorelei,F,320
yob2006.txt:Lorelei,F,378
yob2007.txt:Lorelei,F,430
yob2008.txt:Lorelei,F,446
yob2009.txt:Lorelei,F,504
yob2010.txt:Lorelei,F,547
yob2011.txt:Lorelei,F,584
I'd hope there are some strong personal reasons to justify the alternate spelling (e.g. honoring Great aunt Lora and a Laine or something), beyond just creativity for its own sake. The internal "oral" just jumps out at me in an unfortunate way, though I'm a German speaker and long familiar with the name from mythology.
(I do have a child with an obscure variant that constantly needs spelling, but it's a variant that has particular meaning in our family as well as a history of use, albeit obscurely. With Loralai, it just seems like it's a spelling error that originated as Lorelei became more popular and people who only ever heard (but never read) the name from the TV context got it wrong in transcribing it.)
But, this isn't the question you're asking.
I think the best way to make this case would be to say something along the lines of "In the past 10 years, the name Loralai, spelled as such, has been given to 157 girls born in the US as a first name: see attached useage statistics from the United States Social Security data." -- and then only include 2002-2011 year-of-birth files, as though you just happen to be including the past decade of data rather than the fact that this name came out of nowhere following mispellings from a popular TV show.
The other thing to consider, if a book would carry more weight than usage to evidence that it IS in fact a name being given to "hundreds of American girls", is going to the library and checking out the baby name section. There are usually a lot of books along the lines of "Fifty bazillion great baby names" (where this is obviously an exaggeration), and a lot of the books that hit 500,000 or whatever are really trying very very hard to include every random mispelling possible in order to make it to that nice round high number. They'll all be right next to each other in nonfiction and you can browse through until you find one that happens to include Loralai among Lorali and Lorelai and Loralaye and Loralleigh. Then buy that one to send to your son.
Thank you for taking the time to respond and your insightful answer. I will forward it to my son. It was my intention to send a book to my son as proof to the government. I purchased a baby name book that was advertised on this site that showed this particular spelling but I found out it was not actually listed in the book when I purchased it. I could not find it either in any the books at the library or the local bookstore. It appears that with time running out that the baby's name will have to be changed to the traditional spelling in order to appease the Czech government.
I suspect that the reason you're having a hard time finding documentation to back up Lorelai as an accepted variant of Lorelei is that it isn't, really—it's a spelling error of very recent provenance, which has gained in popularity on account of its being used in the TV show Gilmore Girls. Lorelai only entered the SSA Top 1000 in 2006. It wasn't used at all (or at least not enough for the SSA to report it, i.e. fewer than 5 babies per year) before 2001. In 2001 (the year after the show debuted) there were 20 baby Lorelais born; from there, it steadily increased until it hit the top 1000 in 2006.
I personally really dislike tampering with traditional spellings, so I would be a proponent of just using Lorelei. I particularly don't see the point of using the non-traditional spelling when it will be such a bureaucratic hassle to get it approved.
ETA: I just realized now that your son is actually spelling the name Loralai, not Lorelai. Sorry about that. Unfortunately, you're going to have an even harder time finding documentation to support that spelling—it's really not a historical variant. Like Lorelai, its usage only begins in 2001, and then only in tiny, tiny numbers.
Thank you EVie for your information and advice. I will certainly pass it on to my son!
Jean
I named my daughter Loralai. I live in Florida, USA. My daughter is one of the 13 girls born last year with that name. Please e-mail me if there is anything that I can do to help. I will help in anyway that I can.
lnr1011@my.gulfcoast.edu