Lorna is a

feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

. The name is said to have been first coined by

R. D. Blackmore Richard Doddridge Blackmore (7 June 1825 – 20 January 1900), known as R. D. Blackmore, was one of the most famous English novelists of the second half of the nineteenth century. He won acclaim for vivid descriptions and personification of the ...

for the heroine of his novel '' Lorna Doone'', which appeared in 1869. Blackmore appears to have derived this name from the Scottish placename ''Lorn''/'' Lorne''. In the U.S., according to the 1990 census,Think Baby Names: Lorna
/ref> the name ranks 572 of 4275, and as a surname, Lorna ranks 62296 out of 88799.

Notable people named Lorna

Lorna Anderson Lorna Anderson is a Scottish soprano from Glasgow, noted for her Baroque recitals. Anderson attended the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Patricia MacMahon and the Royal College of Music. She has performed with the Scottish Chamber Orches ...

, Scottish soprano * Lorna Aponte, Panamanian rapper *

Lorna Arnold Lorna Margaret Arnold (; 7 December 1915 – 25 March 2014) was a British historian who wrote a number of books connected with the British nuclear weapons programmes. A graduate of Bedford College, London, she trained as a teacher at the C ...

, British historian of the UK's nuclear weapons programmes *

Lorna Bennett Lorna Bennett (born 7 June 1952 in Newton, Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica) is a Jamaican reggae singer who twice topped the Jamaican singles chart in the early 1970s, and who is best remembered for her reggae version of "Breakfast in Bed". Biog ...

, Jamaican reggae singer * Dame Lorna May Boreland-Kelly, British magistrate and member of the Judicial Appointments Commission *

Lorna Dee Cervantes Lorna Dee Cervantes (born August 6, 1954) is an American poet and activist, who is considered one of the greatest figures in Chicano poetry. She has been described by Alurista, as "probably the best Chicana poet active today." Early life Cer ...

, Chicana American poet * Lorna Cordeiro, singer from Goa, India * Lorna Jane Clarkson, Australian fashion designer, entrepreneur and author. * Lorna Crozier, Canadian poet and essayist *

Lorna Dewaraja Lorna Srimathie Dewaraja (born 1929; died 2014) was a Sri Lankan historian. Biography Dewaraja graduated from the University of Ceylon, followed by postgraduate studies at the University of London. She was a faculty member of the University of C ...

(born 1929), Sri Lankan historian *

Lorna Dixon Lorna Rose Dixon (also known as Laura Mandima Dixon; née Ebsworth; 1917–21 December 1976) was an Australian Aboriginal custodian and preserver of the Wanggumara, Wangkumara language. Early life Dixon was born at Tibooburra, New South Wales, ...

, Australian Aboriginal custodian and preserver of the Wangkumara language * Lorna Doom, American bassist for punk band The Germs *

Lorna Feijóo Lorna Feijóo (born ) is a Cuban former ballet dancer. Her career started at the Cuban National Ballet, where she rose through the ranks. She left Cuba in 2001, then spent two years with the Cincinnati Ballet, before joining the Boston Ballet in ...

, Cuban ballet dancer * Lorna Fitzgerald, British actress *

Lorna French Lorna French is a British playwright and the two-time winner of the Alfred Fagon Award for the best new play by a Black playwright of African or Caribbean descent living in the United Kingdom. Her Fagon Award winner plays are ''Safe House'' and ' ...

, British playwright * Lorna Goodison, Jamaican poet *

Lorna Griffin Lorna Joann Griffin (born June 9, 1956, in Hamilton, Montana) is a retired female shot putter and discus thrower from the United States. She was a two-time silver medalist at the 1983 Pan American Games. Griffin qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olym ...

, American shot putter and discus thrower *

Lorna Hill Lorna Hill (born Lorna Leatham, 21 February 1902 in Durham, England, died 17 August 1991 in Keswick, Cumbria), was an English author of over 40 books for children. These remained popular into the 21st century. Life and works Lorna, the daugh ...

, British author, primarily of children's books *

Lorna Kesterson Lorna J. Kesterson (December 30, 1925 – January 16, 2012) was an American journalist, newspaper editor and politician. She served as the first female mayor of the city of Henderson, Nevada, for two consecutive four-year terms from 1985 to 199 ...

, American politician, first woman to serve as Mayor of

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Vall ...

Lorna E. Lockwood Lorna Elizabeth Lockwood (March 24, 1903 – September 23, 1977) was an American lawyer and judge who served as justice (and at times chief justice) of the Arizona Supreme Court. Born in what was then Arizona Territory, Lockwood was the daught ...

, first female Chief Justice of a state supreme court in the US * Lorna Luft, American singer and actress, daughter of Judy Garland and half-sister of

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

* Lorna Mahlock, American Brigadier general (one star) in the United States Marine Corps *

Lorna Maitland Lorna Maitland, born Barbara Ann Popejoy (November 19, 1943), is an American film actress. She appeared in three Russ Meyer films: '' Lorna'', '' Mudhoney'', and '' Mondo Topless''. Biography Lorna Maitland was born in Glendale, Los Angeles ...

, American actress * Lorna Maseko, South African chef and ballerina *

Lorna McNee Lorna McNee is a Scottish chef who was a winner of '' Great British Menu'' in 2019. Early life McNee was born in 1987 and raised in Forres, Scotland. She studied at Moray College before spending two weeks at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's. She u ...

, Scottish chef * Lorna Nyarinda, Kenyan footballer * Lorna Patterson, American actress *

Lorna Raver Lorna Raver is an American retired actress who has appeared in numerous plays, films, and television series. She is sometimes credited as Lorna Raver Johnson. Life and career Raver was born in York, Pennsylvania, and was raised in a Pennsylvan ...

, American actress who played Sylvia Ganush in the 2009 horror film '' Drag Me to Hell'' * Lorna Sage, British literary critic and author *

Lorna Simpson Lorna Simpson (born August 13, 1960) is an American photographer and multimedia artist. She came to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s with artworks such as ''Guarded Conditions'' and ''Square Deal''. Simpson is most well-known for her work in c ...

, American photographer * Lorna Slater, Canadian-born Scottish politician and co-leader of the Scottish Greens * Lorna Tolentino, Filipino film actress *

Lorna Vinden Lorna Vinden Anderson (1931 – June 9, 2008), born Lorna Margaret Skidmore, was a Canadian wheelchair athlete, competing in pentathlon, track and field, archery, and swimming events at the 1967 and 1969 Wheelchair Pan American Games, and the 19 ...

, Canadian wheelchair athlete *

Lorna Yabsley Lorna Yabsley (born 19 July 1964 in Salcombe) is a British former actress, photographer and author, who pioneered the "reportage" style of wedding photography during the early 1990s. As a teenager she attended Bush Davies School of Theatre Art ...

, British actress and photographer

Fictional characters

* '' Lorna Doone'', protagonist of the 1869 a novel of the same name by Richard Doddridge Blackmore *

Lorna the Jungle Girl Lorna the Jungle Girl, initially called Lorna the Jungle Queen, is a comic book jungle girl protagonist created by writer Don Rico and artist Werner Roth. She debuted in ''Lorna the Jungle Queen'' #1 (July 1953), published by Marvel Comics' 1950s ...

, comics character who debuted in 1953 * Lorna Dane, alter-ego of the female X-Men member

Polaris Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...

Lorna Lorna is a feminine given name. The name is said to have been first coined by R. D. Blackmore for the heroine of his novel ''Lorna Doone'', which appeared in 1869. Blackmore appears to have derived this name from the Scottish placename ''Lorn''/' ...

, protagonist of the 1964 Russ Meyer film of the same name * Lorna, principal character in the 2008 Belgian film '' Lorna's Silence'' * Lorna Morello, women's prison inmate in Netflix television series ''

Orange Is The New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...

'' * Lorna, a character from the animated miniseries '' Over the Garden Wall'' *

LORNA Lorna is a feminine given name. The name is said to have been first coined by R. D. Blackmore for the heroine of his novel ''Lorna Doone'', which appeared in 1869. Blackmore appears to have derived this name from the Scottish placename ''Lorn''/' ...

, protagonist of Lynn Hershman Leeson's 1983 Art game of the same name * Lorna, younger sister to Maggie Beare in the ABC Television series '' Mother and Son'' (1984–1994) * Lorna, comic book character by

Alfonso Azpiri Alfonso Azpiri Mejía (17 January 1947 − August 18, 2017) was a Spanish comic book artist, whose work was mainly of the adult variety. Biography Azpiri was born in Madrid. His early work was published in the 1970s and was mainly aimed at the ...

, and protagonist of the video game of the same name * Lorna from the MMORPG Mabinogi (game) edutainment series "Lorna & Pan's Fantasy Life!" * Lorna McNessie, the daughter of the Loch Ness Monster from '' Monster High''

Other uses

*"Lorna", Allied WWII reporting name for the Japanese Kyushu Q1W airplane *" Lorna Shore", American Deathcore Band from Warren County, New Jersey

References

{{Given name English feminine given names Scottish feminine given names English given names invented by fiction writers 1869 introductions 1860s neologisms