girl's name
Laura
LAW-ruh
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 1,034,602
the United States
#379
2025 births
Laura is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "laurel," the tree whose leaves crowned Roman victors and poets. It ranks 112th in Ireland and 379th in the United States, and it is falling in every market.
- Laura is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 1964, when 19,008 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,118 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Laura over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 12,833 |
| 1890s | 16,486 |
| 1900s | 15,578 |
| 1910s | 30,646 |
| 1920s | 36,141 |
| 1930s | 25,240 |
| 1940s | 35,176 |
| 1950s | 95,743 |
| 1960s | 174,634 |
| 1970s | 118,658 |
| 1980s | 135,207 |
| 1990s | 67,445 |
| 2000s | 25,081 |
| 2010s | 10,447 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 5,075 |
What Laura means
Laura means laurel, from the Latin laurus. The tree was the mark of victory and of poetic achievement in Rome, so the name carries an idea of being crowned rather than of the plant itself.
Where Laura comes from
Laura comes from the Latin laurus, the laurel or bay tree, whose leaves formed the wreath given to victorious generals and to poets — the source of laureate and of baccalaureate. Its literary weight is enormous and rests on one woman: the Laura of Petrarch's Canzoniere, 366 poems written to a woman he saw in Avignon in 1327 and who may or may not have existed. That sequence effectively invented the European love-poem tradition, and it is why Laura appears across every Romance language. Petrarch plays constantly on laura, lauro and l'aura, the breeze, which is a pun the name has carried ever since. Laurence, Lauren and Lorelei come from the same tree by different routes, and Hardy's use of the name is unconnected.
Laura in use
Laura ranks 112th in Ireland with 41 births in 2025 and 379th in the United States with 805 births, and it is falling in our data from a peak in 1964. Our records carry it from 1880. It appears in every market we hold — 303rd in England and Wales, 345th in France, 368th in Scotland — which is the signature of a name that was large everywhere at once and is now receding everywhere at once.
How popular is Laura?
In 2025, Laura was given to 805 babies in the United States, ranking #379 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Laura is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Laura
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Laura also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Laura over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Laura
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Laura in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Laura
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Laura — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Laura
What does the name Laura mean?
Laura means "laurel," from the Latin laurus — the tree that crowned Roman victors and poets.
Who was Petrarch's Laura?
The woman of his Canzoniere, 366 poems begun in 1327. Whether she existed has never been settled.
Is Lauren related to Laura?
Both come from the laurel, by different routes — Lauren through Laurence.
How popular is Laura?
112th in Ireland and 379th in the United States.
Is Laura a girl's or a boy's name?
Laura is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Laura?
Laura has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Laura?
Laura is usually shortened to Laurie.
Is Laura a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Laura currently ranks #112 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.