girl's name
Lauren
LAW-ren
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 581,307
the United States
#401
2025 births
Lauren is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "laurel," which became a women's name because a film studio invented one. It ranks 123rd in Ireland and 401st in the United States, and it is falling.
- Lauren is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1989, when 21,199 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,267 babies in the United States is given this name.
- Lauren started out as a boys' name and is now given almost entirely to girls.
- First appears in US birth records in 1884.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Lauren 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 | 5 |
| 1890s | 16 |
| 1900s | 40 |
| 1910s | 383 |
| 1920s | 655 |
| 1930s | 687 |
| 1940s | 2,914 |
| 1950s | 9,184 |
| 1960s | 12,955 |
| 1970s | 22,207 |
| 1980s | 146,101 |
| 1990s | 154,043 |
| 2000s | 97,409 |
| 2010s | 28,982 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 5,814 |
What Lauren means
Lauren means laurel, from the Latin laurus by way of Laurence. The laurel wreath marked victory and poetic achievement in Rome, so the sense is of being crowned rather than of the tree itself.
Where Lauren comes from
Lauren began as a masculine short form of Laurence, from the Latin Laurentius, meaning of Laurentum — a town whose own name comes from laurus, the laurel. Its life as a women's name starts precisely: in 1944, Warner Brothers renamed the nineteen-year-old Betty Joan Perske as Lauren Bacall for To Have and Have Not, and the name was essentially a studio invention. It entered the American charts immediately afterward and peaked in the late 1980s. Ralph Lauren, born Ralph Lifshitz, changed his surname separately in the 1950s and has no connection to the given name's rise. Laura, Laurence and Loretta all descend from the same laurel by different routes.
Lauren in use
Lauren ranks 123rd in Ireland with 39 births in 2025 and 401st in the United States with 777 births, and it is falling in our data from a peak in 1989. Our records carry it from 1884, though almost all the volume is post-1944 — the pre-war entries are the masculine use. It reaches 784th in Scotland and 1,195th in England and Wales.
How popular is Lauren?
In 2025, Lauren was given to 777 babies in the United States, ranking #401 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Lauren 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 Lauren
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Lauren also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Lauren over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Lauren
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.
Lauren 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 Lauren
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Lauren — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Lauren
What does the name Lauren mean?
Lauren means "laurel," from the Latin laurus by way of Laurence.
Was Lauren originally a boy's name?
Yes, as a short form of Laurence. Its use for women dates from 1944, when Warner Brothers named Lauren Bacall.
Is Lauren related to Laura?
Both come from the laurel, by different routes.
How popular is Lauren?
123rd in Ireland and 401st in the United States.
How many syllables are in Lauren?
Lauren has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Lauren?
Lauren is usually shortened to Laurie.
Is Lauren a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Lauren currently ranks #123 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.