Lourdes

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Lourdes

Gender: Feminine
Language: English, French
Etymology:
Lourdes is the name of a town in southern France.

History:
The city of Lourdes is home to a famous Catholic shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, where St. Bernadette saw a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1858.

Lourdes is an example of a “Marian” name, a religious title name meant to honor the Virgin Mary. Lourdes was first used in the U.S. among Catholics in the mid-20th century, after St. Bernadette was canonized, and after the 1943 film Song of Bernadette. It never became all that popular.

Pronunciation: loord.

Alternates:
Portuguese: Lurdes.
Spanish: Lurdes.

Famous Bearers:
Political Figures:
Lourdes Flores (1959-)
Peruvian politician.

Sports Stars:
Lourdes Becerra Portero (1973-)
Spanish Olympic swimmer.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
0.024 % of females named Lourdes

Popularity of Lourdes:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1880-1949: N/A
1950: 960th most popular.
1951: 962nd most popular.
1952: 886th most popular.
1953: 860th most popular.
1954: 825th most popular.
1955: 810th most popular.
1956: 807th most popular.
1957: 792nd most popular.
1958: 646th most popular.
1959: 637th most popular.
1960: 583rd most popular.
1961: 580th most popular.
1962: 540th most popular.
1963: 532nd most popular.
1964: 549th most popular.
1965: 562nd most popular.
1966: 532nd most popular.
1967: 538th most popular.
1968: 554th most popular.
1969: 601st most popular.
1970: 584th most popular.
1971: 605th most popular.
1972: 670th most popular.
1973: 693rd most popular.
1974: 686th most popular.
1975: 708th most popular.
1976: 688th most popular.
1977: 760th most popular.
1978: 787th most popular.
1979: 868th most popular.
1980: 807th most popular.
1981: 808th most popular.
1982: 747th most popular.
1983: 759th most popular.
1984: 926th most popular.
1985: 834th most popular.
1986: 945th most popular.
1987: N/A
1988: 996th most popular.
1989: 977th most popular.
1990: 712th most popular.
1991: 709th most popular.
1992: 722nd most popular.
1993: 783rd most popular.
1994: 800th most popular.
1995: 901st most popular.
1996: 962nd most popular.
1997: 843rd most popular.
1998: 805th most popular.
1999: 822nd most popular.
2000: 930th most popular.
2001: 846th most popular.
2002- 2004: N/A

Selected Sources:
The Penguin Dictionary of First Names, Pickering, 1999

The Social Security Administration Actuarial Note 139 (www.ssa.gov) - For popularity stats 1880-Present
The 1880 U.S. Census- For popularity stats 1850-1880, and other information (it is available on-line at www.familysearch.org)