Loredana

This name must have been invented much earlier than in 1833. Loredana Marcello, a poet and botanist, lived in the 1500s. She lived in Venice, Italy and had sisters named Bianca, Maria and Daria. [noted -ed]

Could this name be related to the Spanish surname Loredo? According to "American Family Name Origins", Loredo is a Spanish "habitational name from any of the places in the Basque Country and Santander province called Loredo, or Castilianized form of Asturian-Leonese Lloredo, in both cases from Latin lauretum ‘place of laurels’."

Loredana was invented by the Italian author Luciano Zuccoli for the name of the heroine in his novel "L'amore de Loredana". Apparently, it is a feminine form of the surname Loredan, known to mean "Laurel Grove."

Athough widely believed, it is not true that the name Loredana was first used by Luciano Zuccoli; it appears already in "Mattea", of George Sand, that was published in 1833. Loredana is the mother of Mattea. [noted -ed]