Lola (given name)
Lola is a female given name in German, Spanish and other language groups.
It is a short form of the Spanish name Dolores, meaning "sorrows", taken from one of the titles of the Virgin Mary: Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, or Our Lady of Sorrows. Lola is also a short form of the unrelated German name Aloisia. The name Lola is also common in Africa; in Nigeria, many feminine names are shortened to Lola, such as Temilola, Omolola or Damilola. Lola 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.
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. American 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". 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 is a Spanish diminutive form of Lola. The name is sometimes used as a term to indicate a sexually precocious girl, due to its association with the title character of Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel Lolita and its film adaptations in 1962 and 1997. The name's sexually charged image in certain countries 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 feature 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.
, Irish-born actress, dancer, courtesan, and mistress of a king.
People named Lola
- Lola , 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 Beeth, Austrian soprano opera singer
- Lola Beltrán, Mexican ranchera singer
- Lola Berthet, Argentine actress
- Lola Bobesco, Belgian violinist
- Lola Braccini, Italian actress
- 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 Monroe, Ethiopian-born hip hop model
- Lola Martinez, news broadcaster
- Lola Monaghan, 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
Films
- Lola, in the 1958 film, Damn Yankees!
- Lola, character in Shark Tale
- Lola, the title character of Run Lola Run, a 1998 German film
- Lola Lola, a dancer played by Marlene Dietrich in the 1930 German tragicomedic film The Blue Angel
- Lola, the name of the titular character of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1981 film Lola
- Lola Lovell, the name of Kylie Minogue's character in the 1989 film The Delinquents
Television
- Lola Bunny, a character from the Looney Tunes universe, girlfriend of Bugs Bunny
- Lola, in
- Lola, character in animated series CatDog
- Lola, character in sitcom series in South Park
- Lola, the name of Agent Phil Coulson's car in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Lola, character in the novel Atonement
- Lola, character in American television series Reign
- Lola Luftnagle, alter ego of the character Lilly Truscott on the Disney TV series Hannah Montana
- Lola, a character on the Spanish television series Lola & Virginia
- Lola, a sketch comedy character played by Catherine O'Hara on SCTV
- Lola, main character in telenovela Lola...Erase una vez
- Lola Jonze, a character in TV series Britannia High
- Lola Boa, character in American animated television series Brandy and Mr. Whiskers
- Lola Spratt, in American black comedy television series and web series Childrens Hospital
- Lola Loud, a character from the American animated television series The Loud House
- Lola Martinez, character in American comedy-drama television series Zoey 101
Literature
- Lola Lola, the infamous seductress of Heinrich Mann's novel Professor Unrat
- Lola Sonner, character from children book Charlie and Lola
- Lola Limekiller, a minor character in the comic strip Bloom County
- Lola Cep, character in the novel Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
- Lola, a character in Graham Greene's 1937 short story "The Innocent"
- Lola, a supporting character in Coco Ouwerkerk's webcomic Acception
- Lola Osborne, in the 1900 novel Sister Carrie
Music
- Lola, the subject of The Kinks' 1970 single "Lola"
- Lola, the main character in the Barry Manilow song, "Copacabana".
Musicals
- Lola, in the Broadway musical comedy Damn Yankees
- Lola, in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots
Others
- Lola "La Trailera", a fictional character for Mexican actress Rosa Gloria Chagoyán that made her a Mexican action and low-budget films actress in the 1970s
- "Lola" is a nickname given to the female portrayal of "Shepard", the central protagonist of the video game series Mass Effect. She receives this nick name in Mass Effect 3 from her crew mate, Lieutenant James Vega.
- Lola Rembrite, a dateable character in the dating simulation videogame Huniepop
- Lola Pop, a candy-themed clown with the power of body inflation from Nintendo's Arms.