Dolores is a feminine

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 f ...

of Spanish origin.

History

The Spanish word is the plural form of ''dolor'', meaning either sorrow or

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sense, sensory and emotional experience associated with, or res ...

, which derives from the Latin , which has the same meaning and which may ultimately stem from Proto-Indo-European ''*delh-'', "to chop". The usage of ''Dolores'' as a given name has its origins in the strong influence of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in Spanish-speaking countries. The name is a reference to ''Nuestra Señora de los Dolores'' (or ''La Virgen María de los Dolores''), one of the many

titles of Mary, Mother of Jesus Mary, the mother of Jesus in Christianity, is known by many different titles (Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Our Lady, Holy Virgin, Madonna), epithets ( Star of the Sea, Queen of Heaven, Cause of Our Joy), invocations ('' Panagia' ...

, typically translated to

Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows (), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows (), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are Titles of Mary, names by which Mary, mother of Jesus, is referr ...

in English. In given names, Dolores is frequently preceded by the name

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

(María Dolores), the Spanish form of Mary, or one may even bear the entirety of the title (María de los Dolores) as part of their given name. Notable examples of such include the Spanish noblewoman

Juana María de los Dolores de León Smith Juana María de los Dolores de León, Lady Smith (27 March 1798 – 12 October 1872), was the wife of General Sir Harry Smith, Governor of the Cape Colony. Biography Born into an old Spanish noble family, she was a descendant of Juan Ponce d ...

and the Mexican actress

Dolores del Río María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete (3 August 1904 – 11 April 1983), known professionally as Dolores del Río (), was a Mexican actress. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is regarded as the first major female Latin Am ...

, who was born María de los Dolores Asúnsolo López-Negrete. Less commonly, one might use de los Dolores as part of their name, but not paired with María. Lola, Loli, Lolis, and Lolita are all popular nicknames for individuals named Dolores, based on the name's second syllable.

Variants

* Dolors ( Catalan) *Delora, Delores, Deloris, Dolores, Dollie (diminutive), Dolly (diminutive), Lola (diminutive), Lolita (diminutive), Lolicia (diminutive, rare), Lori (diminutive) ( English) *Dolorosa (

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

) *Dolorès ( French) *Dores ( Galician) *Addolorata (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

) *Dolorosa (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

) *Dores ( Portuguese) *Nekane (

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

) *Dolores, Lola (diminutive), Loli (diminutive), Lolis (diminutive), Lolita (diminutive) (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

) *Долорес, Лолита, Лола (Dolores, Lolita, Lola), Долли (diminutive), Лора (diminutive, rare), Лëля (diminutive) (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

) *Lola, Lolka, Lolli (

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

)

Famous bearers

Deloris

* Norma Deloris Egstrom (1920–2002), American singer, better known as Peggy Lee * Mablean Deloris Ephriam (born 1949), American

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

and adjudicator for ''

Divorce Court ''Divorce Court'' is an American court show that revolves around settling the disputes of couples going through divorces. The show has had four separate runs, all in first-run syndication. Since the debut of the original series in 1957, it is ...

'' from 1999 until 2006

Delores

* Marva Delores Collins (1936–2015), American educator * Delores Churchill (born 1929) Canadian

Haida Haida may refer to: Haida people Many uses of the word derive from the name of an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. * Haida people, an Indigenous ethnic group of North America (Canada) ** Council of the Haida Nati ...

traditional weaver * Delores M. Etter (born 1947), American electroengineer * Delores Ann Richburg Greene (1936–2022), American educator, college dean * Delores G. Kelley (born 1936), American politician *

Delores McQuinn Rev. Delores L. McQuinn (born November 26, 1954, in Henrico County, Virginia) is an American politician of the Democratic Party. She is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 81st district, made up of parts of Chesterf ...

(born 1954), American politician and minister * Delores Taylor (1932–2018), American actress, film producer, and writer * C. Delores Tucker (1927–2005), American

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

activist *

Delores Ziegler Delores Ziegler (born September 4, 1951) is an American mezzo-soprano who has had an active international performance career since the late 1970s. A former resident artist at the Cologne Opera, she has performed leading roles with many of the wor ...

(born 1951), American

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

opera singer

Dolores

Dolores Alexander Dolores Alexander (August 10, 1931 – May 13, 2008) was a journalist and Lesbian feminism, lesbian feminist best known for her work as Executive Director in the National Organization for Women (NOW) from 1969-1970, as co-owner of the feminist ...

(1931–2008), American activist *

Dolores Costello Dolores Costello (September 17, 1903Costello's obituary in ''The New York Times'' says that she was born on September 17, 1905. – March 1, 1979) was an American film actress who achieved her greatest success during the era of silent movies. ...

(1903-1979), American actress * Dolores Crow (1931–2018), American legislator * Dolores Ehlers (1896–1983), Mexican filmmaker and businessperson *

Dolores Fonzi Dolores María Fonzi (born 19 July 1978) is an Argentine television, theatre and film actress. Several of her films have received critical acclaim such as '' Burnt Money'' (2000), '' Waiting for the Messiah'' (2000), '' Bottom of the Sea'' (2003 ...

(born 1978), Argentine actress * Dolores Lewis Garcia (born 1938), Native American potter * Dolores Guinness (1936-2012), German socialite *

Dolores Duran Dolores Duran (''Adiléia Silva da Rocha''; 7 June 1930 – 24 October 1959) was a Brazilian singer and songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a so ...

(née Adiléia Silva da Rocha; 1930–1959), Brazilian singer-songwriter *

Dolores Hart Dolores Hart, O.S.B. (born Dolores Hicks; October 20, 1938) is an American Roman Catholic Benedictine nun and former actress. Following her movie debut with Elvis Presley in '' Loving You'' (1957), she made 10 films in five years, including '' ...

O.S.B. (born 1938), American actress and Roman Catholic nun * Dolores Jiménez Hernández (born 1955), Mexican diplomat *

Dolores Huerta Dolores Huerta (born April 10, 1930) is an American labor leader and feminist activist. After working for several years with the Community Service Organization (CSO), she co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) with fellow activ ...

(born 1930), American labor activist *

Dolores Ibárruri Isidora Dolores Ibárruri Gómez (; 9 December 189512 November 1989), also known as ("the passionate one" or Passion flower"), was a Spanish Republican politician during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and a communist. She is renowned for ...

(1895–1989), Spanish politician *

Dolores Keane Dolores Keane (born 26 September 1953) is an Irish folk singer. She was a founding member of the group De Dannan following which she pursued a solo recording and touring career. Background Keane was born in a small village called Sylane (near ...

(born 1953), Irish singer *

Dolores Lambaša Dolores Lambaša (29 March 1981 − 23 October 2013) was a Croatian actress. Death Lambaša died of injuries sustained in traffic collision on 23 October 2013, aged 32, at the Dr. Josip Benčević Hospital in Slavonski Brod.Dolores O'Riordan Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan ( ; 6 September 1971 – 15 January 2018) was an Irish musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band The Cranberries. O'Riordan was the principal songwriter of ...

(1971–2018), Irish singer-songwriter and member of

The Cranberries The Cranberries were an Irish rock music, rock band formed in Limerick in 1989. The band was composed of lead singer and guitarist Dolores O'Riordan, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan (Noel's brother), and drummer Fergal Lawler. O'Riord ...

* Dolores Pedrares (born 1973), Spanish hammer thrower *

(née María de los Dolores Asúnsolo López-Negrete; 1904–1983), Mexican actress *

(1798–1872), Spanish noblewoman and descendant of

Juan Ponce de León Juan Ponce de León ( – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and ''conquistador'' known for leading the first official European expedition to Puerto Rico in 1508 and Florida in 1513. He was born in Santervás de Campos, Valladolid, Spain, in ...

* Madame Dolores born Antonia Dolores Trebelli (1864–1951), soprano (also Mademoiselle Dolores)

Doloris

* Doloris Bridges, American politician

Dolours

Dolours Price Dolours Price (16 December 1950 – 23 January 2013) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer. She grew up in an Irish republican family and joined the IRA in 1971. She was sent to jail for her role in the 1973 Old Bailey bombin ...

(1950-2013), member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army

Lola

Lola Montez Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld (17 February 1821 – 17 January 1861), better known by the stage name Lola Montez (), was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludw ...

(née Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert; 1821–1861), Irish mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria

Maria Dolores

Fictional characters

*Delores, a recurring character in '' Riverdale'' * Delores Landingham, fictional character from ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'' * Dolores Belmont, fictional character from '' Castlevania: Order of Shadows'' *Deloris Van Cartier, character in the ''Sister Act'' franchise *Dolores Claiborne, the title character in Stephen King’s

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

Dolores Umbridge Dolores Jane Umbridge is a fictional character from the ''Harry Potter'' series created by J. K. Rowling. Umbridge is the secondary antagonist of the fifth novel, '' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,'' where she has been stationed a ...

, fictional character from the ''Harry Potter'' series *Delores Vickery, in Stephen King’s '' The Shining '' * Dolores Haze, fictional character from the novel ''

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The protagonist and narrator is a French literature professor who moves to New England and writes under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. He details his obsession ...

'' *

Dolores Abernathy Dolores Abernathy is a fictional character in the science fiction television series ''Westworld'', in which she is primarily portrayed by American actresses Evan Rachel Wood and Tessa Thompson. The Wood-portrayed Dolores Prime is considered to be t ...

, fictional character from ''Westworld'' * Delores Edmund, playable character from ''

Thimbleweed Park ''Thimbleweed Park'' is a point-and-click adventure game developed by Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick for Linux, macOS, Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Android, and Amazon Luna. The game was revealed on November 18, 2014, a ...

'' *Dolores Dei, fictional deity from ''

Disco Elysium ''Disco Elysium'' is a 2019 role-playing video game developed and published by ZA/UM. The game was written and designed by a team led by Estonian novelist Robert Kurvitz and executive producer Kaur Kender, featuring an art style based on oil pain ...

'' *Dolores, fictional character from ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...

'' *Delores, fictional character from ''North and South'' *Dolores, fictional mystery woman character from "

The Junior Mint "The Junior Mint" is the 60th episode of the NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld''. It is the 20th episode of the fourth season. It aired on March 18, 1993. In the episode, Jerry cannot remember the name of the woman he is dating, but knows it rhymes with a ...

" episode of ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'' *Dolores, fictional mannequin from ''

The Umbrella Academy ''The Umbrella Academy'' is an Absurdist fiction, absurdist Superhero fiction, superhero comic book series created by writer Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Bá. It follows a dysfunctional family of adopted superhero siblings with bizarre powers a ...

'' * Dolores Courtney, from ''

Mind Your Language ''Mind Your Language'' was a British sitcom that premiered on ITV in 1977. It was produced by London Weekend Television and directed by Stuart Allen. Three series were made by London Weekend Television between 1977 and 1979, and it was briefly ...

'' *Dolores Madrigal, fictional character from Disney's ''

Encanto ''Encanto'' is a 2021 American animated Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, co-directed by Charise Castro Smith, and ...

'' *Dolores Chanal, fictional character from '' Shutter Island'' *Delores, the Beetlejuice wife in the sequel of this movie.

Other uses

* Deloris, Australian

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

* ''

Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown, North Dakota ''Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown, North Dakota'' is a 1972 album by Peggy Lee. It was her final album for Capitol Records, her label since 1957 and, prior to that, from 1944 to 1952. Peggy Lee's stage name does not appear on the cover of t ...

'', album by

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

References

{{given name Spanish feminine given names Feminine given names Portuguese feminine given names Romanian feminine given names English-language feminine given names