Dolores

Spanish
"lady of sorrows"

Dolores Origin and Meaning

The name Dolores is a girl's name of Spanish origin meaning "lady of sorrows".

Though it's related to the Virgin Mary, this name was once perceived as the height of sensuality, a role since taken over by nicknames Lola and Lolita.

Dolores is one of the many titles given to the Virgin Mary — Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, or Our Lady of the Sorrows, and was one of the Spanish names that really caught on in this country — at one point in time, in 1930, Dolores was the 13th most popular girls' name in the US. But in the twenty-first century, you might prefer one of the other names derived from Mary's Spanish epithets — Mercedes, Soledad, Rosario or Luz.

Dolores does have some Harry Potter cred, via the witch Dolores Umbridge. Addison Timlin and Jeremy Allen White gave the name to their daughter in 2020.

# 959 in the US

Dolores Rank in US Top 1000

# 849 on Nameberry

Dolores Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Dolores Popularity

Famous People Named Dolores

  • (Maria de los) Dolores Beatrix Carolina Blanca Leopoldina von HabsburgLothringen, Archduchess of Austria; Princess of Tuscany
  • Dolores Clara Fernandez HuertaAmerican labor leader
  • Dolores del Rio (born María de los Dolores Asúnsolo LópezNegrete), Mexican actress
  • Dolores CostelloAmerican actress
  • Dolores Mary Eileen O'RiordanIrish singer of rock band The Cranberries
  • Dolores HartAmerican actress and nun
  • Dolores Maria Agatha Wilhelmine Luise GuinessGerman socialite
  • Dolores (born Kathleen Rose)American model and showgirl
  • Dolores KeaneIrish singer of folk group De Dannan
  • Dolores Korman SloviterU.S. federal judge
  • (Isidora) Dolores Ibárruri (Gómez)Spanish revolutionary
  • Maria de los Dolores Victoria Filippa Maria de las Mercedes Luisa Carlota Eugenia y Todos los SantosPrincess of Bourbon,Two Sicilies, Princess Czartoryska

Dolores in Pop Culture

  • Dolores "Lolita" Hazecharacter in Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" (''she was Dolores on the dotted line'')
  • "Dolores Claiborne" novel by Stephen King, film and main character
  • Dolores AbernathyEvan Rachel Wood's character on HBO's "Westworld"
  • Dolorescharacter on TV's "The Worst Witch"
  • Dolores Jane Umbridgecharacter in the "Harry Potter" series
  • Dolorescharacter in an episode of "Seinfeld," whose name "rhymes with a part of the female anatomy"
  • Dolorescharacter in 1998 film "The Naked Man"
  • Dolores Pasternakcharacter on TV series "Two and a Half Men"
  • Dolores Landringhamcharacter on TV series "The West Wing"
  • Dolores MartinChip "the Colonel" Martin's mother in "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
  • Dolores Mendezcharacter in G. A. Henty's "By England's Aid"
  • Dolores Slingshotcharacter in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
  • Dolores Theodora Marie Celestecharacter in Ellen Conford's "A Royal Pain"
  • "Dolores"song by Frank Sinatra (famously covered by Bing Crosby) ("How I love the kisses of Dolores...")
  • "Dolores"song by pop artist Gingkoa
  • Doloresmannequin in the TV series "The Umbrella Academy"