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ArchivesAttn. C.K. Evans: about Lilou
Some time ago you asked in this board about the French name Lilou and if it was a Luc Besson's creation in his film The Fifth Element (1997) or it could be a Provençal nickname of Lilian, as someone claimed:
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=698165&board=gen
Since then, I made further researches about Lilou and its genesis.
On the one hand, the form Lilou is a French nickname used for names with the sound li (lee), mainly Aurélie and Amélie, but not limited to them: Aline, Élise, Élie, Coralie... and, of course, Liliane.
The use of the hypocoristic suffix ou (parallel to the Catalan ó and the Occitan ó [very often misspelled as *ou because of the French influence]) is attested in French nicknames: in feminine nicknames (Madeleine> Madou, Anne or Nadège > Nanou, Catherine > Catou...), in masculine nicknames (Jacques > Jacquou) and in nicknames of names with one masculine form and one feminine form (François and Françoise > Franchou, Michel and Michelle > Michou...).
So, although it is very possible that Liló (spelled Lilou in a French way) was used as nickname in Occitan for Liliana (and perhaps for more names), it is unquestionable that Lilou is also a French nickname.
I don't know if the use of this resort to make nicknames is more typical of some French dialects or of some areas (as it could be with uco and uca in Spanish), but the two first examples of use of Lilou in French literature that I have found are both from Belgium (two novels, one from 1939 and the other from 1952); the first literary use of it in France is from 1981 (Lilou-Nuage, by Jean-Pierre Thibaudat).
On the other hand, in her L'Officiel des prénoms, Stéphanie Rapoport claims that the first Lilou in France was born in 1994 (that is tree years before Besson's film); in that case, the apparition of Lilou could have been because of the trend of nicknames as first names (Téo, Léa, Tom...) or the trend of "Lou" names (Lou, Louane, Louanne, Lou-Anne...) or even some parents' invention that coincidentally matched with an existent name/nickname.
But, statistical data from INSEE (the French official source) show that any Lilou was registered in France before 1997, that is the year of The Fifth Element. Even Stéphanie Rapoport's website, which offers statistical data, shows that the first girls named Lilou were born in 1997 (same with Leeloo and Leelou). So there is an inconsistency between Rapoport's affirmations in her books (1994) and Rapoport's affirmations in her website and official data (1997). The easy explanation that I could imagine is that some girl born in 1994 had her name changed to Lilou after 1997 and the change didn't affect the statistical data; but, obviously, I don't have any evidence of that.
The official data for 1997 are: 19 girls named Lilou, 9 girls named Leeloo and 4 girls named Leelou (the spelling Lylou seems unknown until 1998, with 10 girls).
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=698165&board=gen
Since then, I made further researches about Lilou and its genesis.
On the one hand, the form Lilou is a French nickname used for names with the sound li (lee), mainly Aurélie and Amélie, but not limited to them: Aline, Élise, Élie, Coralie... and, of course, Liliane.
The use of the hypocoristic suffix ou (parallel to the Catalan ó and the Occitan ó [very often misspelled as *ou because of the French influence]) is attested in French nicknames: in feminine nicknames (Madeleine> Madou, Anne or Nadège > Nanou, Catherine > Catou...), in masculine nicknames (Jacques > Jacquou) and in nicknames of names with one masculine form and one feminine form (François and Françoise > Franchou, Michel and Michelle > Michou...).
So, although it is very possible that Liló (spelled Lilou in a French way) was used as nickname in Occitan for Liliana (and perhaps for more names), it is unquestionable that Lilou is also a French nickname.
I don't know if the use of this resort to make nicknames is more typical of some French dialects or of some areas (as it could be with uco and uca in Spanish), but the two first examples of use of Lilou in French literature that I have found are both from Belgium (two novels, one from 1939 and the other from 1952); the first literary use of it in France is from 1981 (Lilou-Nuage, by Jean-Pierre Thibaudat).
On the other hand, in her L'Officiel des prénoms, Stéphanie Rapoport claims that the first Lilou in France was born in 1994 (that is tree years before Besson's film); in that case, the apparition of Lilou could have been because of the trend of nicknames as first names (Téo, Léa, Tom...) or the trend of "Lou" names (Lou, Louane, Louanne, Lou-Anne...) or even some parents' invention that coincidentally matched with an existent name/nickname.
But, statistical data from INSEE (the French official source) show that any Lilou was registered in France before 1997, that is the year of The Fifth Element. Even Stéphanie Rapoport's website, which offers statistical data, shows that the first girls named Lilou were born in 1997 (same with Leeloo and Leelou). So there is an inconsistency between Rapoport's affirmations in her books (1994) and Rapoport's affirmations in her website and official data (1997). The easy explanation that I could imagine is that some girl born in 1994 had her name changed to Lilou after 1997 and the change didn't affect the statistical data; but, obviously, I don't have any evidence of that.
The official data for 1997 are: 19 girls named Lilou, 9 girls named Leeloo and 4 girls named Leelou (the spelling Lylou seems unknown until 1998, with 10 girls).
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
1
Replies
Very interesting, thanks Lumia! Lilou is cute enough (although it reminds me too much of kittens for some reason), but Leeloo - what a hideous way to spell it!
1
Thank you so much for this detailed research! It is wonderful to have your expertise for advice on the board.
The possibility of names being changed after birth is always one that has to be kept in mind when investigating when a name was first introduced, isn't it? I am always a bit wary of using the information from the Social Security Death Index in the USA for this, because by the time a person dies, the name they normally go by could be very different from the name their parents gave them at birth. Plus people who officially register births do sometimes make errors. :)
Are you able to get data from INSEE that shows every name given in France in a certain year, even those used only once? That's fantastic if you can. I am hoping to finally be able to obtain such a listing from the state of Nebraska in the USA again for 2007 births; they have not been able to send me such a complete list since 2003.
The possibility of names being changed after birth is always one that has to be kept in mind when investigating when a name was first introduced, isn't it? I am always a bit wary of using the information from the Social Security Death Index in the USA for this, because by the time a person dies, the name they normally go by could be very different from the name their parents gave them at birth. Plus people who officially register births do sometimes make errors. :)
Are you able to get data from INSEE that shows every name given in France in a certain year, even those used only once? That's fantastic if you can. I am hoping to finally be able to obtain such a listing from the state of Nebraska in the USA again for 2007 births; they have not been able to send me such a complete list since 2003.
1
Right now, I'm completely puzzled...
The INSEE publish every year a CD with names statistics, but it is expensive and that is why I don't have it. However, some websites offer this information from INSEE: prenoms.com, aufeminin.com and tous-les-prenoms.com.
In the case of Idescat (Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya), in general, they offer the names with apparitions of five or more (but they mark if the name is between 1 and 5).
For the births since 1996, they offer the detailed list for names with five or more births, but it is possible to see any name, even with a single birth, with the exact amount for that year, with the function "search for a name". For example (I searched the combination "Nua"):
Name....Position....Frequency
Anuar....40....5
Annuar....1,804....1
Mohamed Anuar....4,895....1
Danua....2,568....1
http://www.idescat.net/onomas/Onomas?TC=555&VN=nua&VA=2006
But, returning to Lilou, I double checked and it seems that any name with less of 3 apparitions is not listed in INSEE lists. So it is possible that the first Lilou was born in 1994 as Rapoport says in her book (but how she knows it is a mystery, because the fact is not coming from INSEE statistics). That is not what has puzzled me in this second check.
I carefully noted the amount for year and the supposed total amount in aufeminin.com.
1997: 19
1998: 78
1999: 175
2000: 388
2001: 693
2002: 1,098
2003: 1,764
2004: 2,107
2005: 2,402
2006: 3,213
Supposed total amount: 11,701. But, the real amount if I add all the numbers is 11,937!! A difference of 236 that I don't know how they could have lost.
I don't count the possible existence of 1 to 6 girls named Lilou born between 1994 and 1996 because the variation is very small.
And, most puzzling, at Rapoport's website (meilleursprenoms.fr), she says: "Au début de l'année 2006, 12.746 Françaises portaient ce prénom. (...) De 1900 à nos jours, son année record d'attribution est 2006, avec 3.205 naissances."
The INSEE publish every year a CD with names statistics, but it is expensive and that is why I don't have it. However, some websites offer this information from INSEE: prenoms.com, aufeminin.com and tous-les-prenoms.com.
In the case of Idescat (Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya), in general, they offer the names with apparitions of five or more (but they mark if the name is between 1 and 5).
For the births since 1996, they offer the detailed list for names with five or more births, but it is possible to see any name, even with a single birth, with the exact amount for that year, with the function "search for a name". For example (I searched the combination "Nua"):
Name....Position....Frequency
Anuar....40....5
Annuar....1,804....1
Mohamed Anuar....4,895....1
Danua....2,568....1
http://www.idescat.net/onomas/Onomas?TC=555&VN=nua&VA=2006
But, returning to Lilou, I double checked and it seems that any name with less of 3 apparitions is not listed in INSEE lists. So it is possible that the first Lilou was born in 1994 as Rapoport says in her book (but how she knows it is a mystery, because the fact is not coming from INSEE statistics). That is not what has puzzled me in this second check.
I carefully noted the amount for year and the supposed total amount in aufeminin.com.
1997: 19
1998: 78
1999: 175
2000: 388
2001: 693
2002: 1,098
2003: 1,764
2004: 2,107
2005: 2,402
2006: 3,213
Supposed total amount: 11,701. But, the real amount if I add all the numbers is 11,937!! A difference of 236 that I don't know how they could have lost.
I don't count the possible existence of 1 to 6 girls named Lilou born between 1994 and 1996 because the variation is very small.
And, most puzzling, at Rapoport's website (meilleursprenoms.fr), she says: "Au début de l'année 2006, 12.746 Françaises portaient ce prénom. (...) De 1900 à nos jours, son année record d'attribution est 2006, avec 3.205 naissances."
1