Lotar

Lotar is the Breton rendering of Lothar, a name whose Germanic roots reach back to a compound meaning famous warrior. It travels oddly well: the Frankish kings Lothair divided Charlemagne's empire among themselves, and one of them lent his name to the region we now call Lorraine. In Breton mouths the name takes on a softer cadence than its German cousin, the final r quieted, the whole thing moving like a name in an old chanson. Vanishingly rare on modern registers, Lotar feels more like something excavated than chosen. A name out of tapestry and parchment. Faintly heraldic.