Lourdes originates in French language and is taken from the name of a town in south-western France. It became famous after Bernadette Soubirous had a vision of Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes in 1858. Since then, thousands of pilgrims visited the town in order to be miraculously healed. As a feminine given name it has never been overly popular in the United States. Madonna named her daughter Lourdes.