TV-Series :: Gilmore Girls :: Character Guide

Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, nicknamed Rory, was born on October 8, 1984 at exactly 4:03 AM. At the time of her birth, her parents, Lorelai and Christopher, were both only 16 years old, and in Christopher’s absence, Lorelai decided to raise Rory on her own without the help of her wealthy parents. Lorelai raised Rory in the small town of Stars Hollow and lived in the potting shed at the Independence Inn until Lorelai could afford to buy a place of her own.

Due to their closeness in age, and after everything they’ve been through together, Lorelai and Rory are best friends. They share the same likes and dislikes, as well as the same coffee addiction. In everything that Rory does, it’s obvious that she is her mother’s daughter.

Growing up in Stars Hollow, Rory was adored by the townspeople, but wasn’t as liked by kids her age. However, Rory quickly befriended Lane Kim and the two have been best friends ever since. Rory excelled at school, never getting less than an “A” on any assignment. In order to obtain her life-long dream of attending Harvard University, Rory applied to attend Chilton Academy, an extremely prestigious private school in Hartford, Connecticut, and due to her outstanding merits and recommendations she was quickly accepted. However, her mother couldn’t afford the tuition and was forced to go to her parents for help. In exchange for funding Rory’s education, Lorelai and Rory attend dinner every Friday night at the elder Gilmore’s home, a tradition that has lasted throughout the series.

Upon graduating Chilton as the school’s valedictorian, Rory chose to attend Yale University, instead of Harvard, her dream school, in order to be closer to her mother and grandparents. There she majored in Journalism with a minor in Political Science for the first two years of college, but dropped out of school temporarily causing a rift between Rory and her mother that was slow to heal.

During the series, Rory has been romantically linked to three different guys. Her first love was Dean Forrester, whom she met at Stars Hollow High. They dated for two seasons until Rory broke up with Dean to be with Jess Mariano, Luke’s nephew, whose love of books, similar to Rory’s, caught her eye from the moment Jess arrived in Stars Hollow. However, their relationship was also ill-fated and the two broke up at the end of the third season. As season 4 came to a close, Rory and Dean had rekindled their relationship, despite Dean being married, and Dean had an affair with Rory which led to Dean’s divorce. The two dated once again, but Dean soon broke it off when he realized how different their lives had become. From there, Rory fell for Logan Huntzberger, son of newspaper tycoon Mitchum Huntzberger, and moved in together until Logan graduated and moved to London for work.

Through the series, Rory has transformed dramatically – from the book-worm Chilton student with the “boy-next-door” boyfriend to the self-made editor of the Yale newspaper willing to take a risk in order to get what she wants.