LORRAINE
The surname Lorraine is a family name that traces its origins to France, specifically to the region of Lorraine in the north‑eastern part of the country. The name has Latin roots, derived from Laurus, the word for laurel, which in antiquity was associated with honour and victory.
Although its earliest conception is firmly situated in France, the name migrated into the British Isles, where it was first recorded in the early thirteenth century. Variants such as Lorrain, Lorraine, Lorain, and Lorne are found in contemporary records, and the form Loraine appears to have been used in England, particularly in the North Country.
In medieval Scotland and Northern England the surname was commonly associated with individuals of French descent or with those linked to the weaving of particular types of cloth in the style of Flemish Weavers. Its presence in both sides of the Anglo‑Scottish border by the fourteenth century suggests a deep entrenchment in the regional society where the name lost its explicit Gallic identity.
Notable early occurrences include Roger Lohering, a juror on a Scottish inquest in 1244, and in 1233 the charter witness Richard Loren, whose name is the earliest documented spelling of the family within Scottish records. The name appears again in English administrative documents when Eustace de Lorreyne was appointed in 1333 to survey the Castle of Berwick, and in 1354 James de Lorreyne served as a charter witness in Kelso.
In the early fifteenth century William Loraine received a grant of arms from King Henry IV of England in the period 1399-1413. The arms were described as Quarterly sable and argent, a plain cross counterchanged, and are believed to have been borne in Durham.
Geographically, the surname is typified as a location or geographical feature. It reflects a tradition of adopting place names as family identifiers, a common practice amongst medieval Christian society in England and Scotland. Today the name is perceived largely as Scottish, yet its French and Latin heritage remains evident in its etymology and early historical associations.
Typical given names associated with the Lorraine surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- Donald
- George
- Guy
- Ian
- James
- Michael
- Nathan
- Paul
- Peter
- Robert
- Stuart
- Thomas
Female
- Daffy
- Deborah
- Diane
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Jackie
- Kathleen
- Louise
- Margaret
- Moira
- Nicola
- Samantha
- Sandra
- Susan
- Tina
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Lorraine in...
Braille
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Morse
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There are approximately 484 people named Lorraine in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around seven in a million people in Britain are named Lorraine.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Lorraine
- Gillian Mary Lorraine - Actress (1964 to 2018)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.