Lestat

les-dot

Literature, Old French, Louisianan

"status, state; people's stone; beloved stone"

Lestat Origin and Meaning

The name Lestat is a boy's name meaning "status, state; people's stone; beloved stone".

This literary creation was used by Anne Rice in her popular book series the Vampire Chronicles. It is borne by the anti-hero and central character, Lestat de Lioncourt, an immortal vampire from the 18th century. It is theorized that the name could come from the Old French l'estat meaning "status" or "state", however, Anne Rice herself has suggested she named him after her husband Stan

Lestat is said to be based on Stan, and in this case, the name was influenced the Norman and Louisianan name, Lestan, itself a short form of Leodstan or Leofstan, meaning "people's stone" and "beloved stone" respectively. In the series, his name is described as being pronounced "les-dot".

The name has been given to a small handful of boys nearly every year in the US since 1995, the year after Tom Cruise starred as Lestat in a film adaptation of the series. It peaked in 2004 and 2005 when 35 boys received the name while a more recent year saw it given to 8 babies.