Lola (given name)

Lola is a feminine given name, a short form of the Spanish name Dolores, meaning "sorrows", a name taken from a title of the Virgin Mary: Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, or Our Lady of Sorrows. Lola may also be used as a short form of the unrelated German name Aloisia or the English name Lolicia. The name Lola is also common in Africa; in Nigeria, many feminine names are shortened to Lola, such as Temilola, Omolola or Damilola. Lola (Tajik for tulip) is also a feminine name in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan. It is derived from the Persian لاله or lâleh. The short form Lola has been rising in popularity in several countries in the past decade. It was the 270th most popular name for baby girls born in the United States in 2007, up from 279th place in 2006 and 375th place in 2005; was ranked as the 64th most popular name for baby girls in Spain in 2006; was ranked as the 51st most popular name for baby girls in England and Wales in 2007; was the 17th most popular name for baby girls in France in 2004; and was the 20th most popular name for baby girls in Belgium in 2006.^[1]

Though the name originated with a title for the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, Lola has also acquired a number of contrasting sensual associations. Authors Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz noted in their 2008 book Cool Names for Babies that the name has a sultry image and that people associate the name with the song "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets" from the musical Damn Yankees, in which the character of Lola is the Devil's "best homewrecker."^[2] The name also has associations with the Irish-born Lola Montez, who became famous in the nineteenth century as an actress, Spanish dancer, courtesan and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria.

Lolita, a diminutive form of the name, is associated with the 1955 novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov about a pedophile's obsession with a 12-year-old girl, Lolita. "Lolita" has since become a term for a sexually precocious young girl. In 1992, 16-year-old Amy Fisher gained notoriety as the "Long Island Lolita" after she shot her much older lover's wife. The name's sexually charged image is also due to associations with Lola, a 1970 song by The Kinks about a young man's encounter with a transvestite named Lola.

The title character in the 1998 German film Run Lola Run may also have raised the name's profile, as has Lola, a clever and inquisitive child character in a recently published series of children's picture books by Lauren Child.

The naming of several children of celebrities in the past decade has increased the popularity of the name. Madonna uses the nickname "Lola" for her daughter Lourdes Leon, born in 1996. Entertainers Kelly Ripa, Chris Rock, Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen, Carnie Wilson and Annie Lennox all have daughters named Lola. The name was also used for a granddaughter of Camilla Parker Bowles.

Lola Montez, Irish-born actress, dancer, courtesan, and mistress of a king.

People named Lola

• Lola (singer) (born 1981), French singer
• Lola Albright, American singer and actress
• Lola Almudevar, British journalist and news reporter
• Lola Alvarez Bravo, Mexican photographer
• Lola Anglada, Spanish writer and illustrator
• Lola Astanova, Russian-born classical pianist
• Lola Beltrán, Mexican ranchera singer
• Lola Berthet, Argentine actress
• Lola Bobesco, Belgian violinist
• Lolah Burford, American author
• Lola Cotton, American vaudeville hypnotist and mentalist of the early 20th century
• Lola Dueñas, Spanish actress
• Lola Falana, American dancer and actress
• Lola Flores, Spanish singer, dancer, and actress
• Lola Forner, Spanish actress
• Lola Gaos, Spanish actress
• Lola Glaudini, American actress
• Lola Graham, Australian musician
• Lola Herrera, Spanish actress
• Lola Lane, American actress
• Lola J. May, American mathematics educator, author and consultant
• Lola Lemire Tostevin, Canadian poet and novelist
• Lola Luv, Ethiopian-born hip hop model
• Lola Martinez (broadcaster), news broadcaster
• Lola Montgomery, Australian burlesque dancer under the stage name Lola the Vamp
• Lola Mora, Argentine sculptor
• Lola Muñoz, Spanish singer
• Lola Novaković, Serbian writer
• Lola Pagnani, Italian actress
• Lola Ridge, Irish-born anarchist poet and editor of Marxist publications
• Lola Rodríguez de Tio, Puerto Rican poet
• Lola Todd, American actress
• Lola Van Wagenen Redford, consumer advocate and ex-wife of Robert Redford
• Lola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey, British artist, writer, and peer

Fictional characters

• Lola, character in American television series Reign
• Lola Luftnagle, alter ego of the character Lilly Truscott on the Disney TV series Hannah Montana
• Lola Limekiller, a minor character in the comic strip Bloom County
• Lola Mbola, character in animated French television series Robotboy
• Lola, a character on the Spanish television series Lola & Virginia
• Lola...Erase una vez
• Lola Jonze, a character in Britannia High
• Lola Boa, in Brandy and Mr. Whiskers
• Lola Cep, in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
• Lola Lola, a dancer played by Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel
• Lola Martinez, in Zoey 101
• Lola Osborne, in Sister Carrie
• Lola, the name of the titular character of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1981 film Lola
• Lola Bunny, a character from the Looney Tunes universe
• Lola, a character in Graham Greene's 1937 short story "The Innocent"
• Lola, the subject of The Kinks' 1970 hit of the same name
• Lola "La Trailera" (Lola "The Truck Driver"), a fictional character for Mexican actress Rosa Gloria Chagoyán that made her a Mexican action and low-budget films actress in the seventies
• Lola Lovell, the name of Kylie Minogue's character in the 1989 film The Delinquents
• Lola, the main character in the Barry Manilow song, "Copacabana". A dancer who loses her true love and becomes a drunk.
• Lola, the name of Agent Phil Coulson's car in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Lola, a fictional child created by Lauren Child featured in the series lovingly known as the 'Charlie and Lola' books^[3]
• Lola Spratt, in Childrens Hospital
• Lola Loud, a character from The Loud House

Notes