girl's name
Lori
LOR-ee (English)
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 345,313
Lori is a girl's name, a short form of Laura meaning laurel. It is stable, though it charts in only three markets and peaked back in 1963.
- Lori is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 1963, when 23,947 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 28,096 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1924.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Lori Over Time
Births per decade in the United States, 1920s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, which so far covers 2020 to 2025.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1920s | 31 |
| 1930s | 126 |
| 1940s | 794 |
| 1950s | 56,168 |
| 1960s | 176,972 |
| 1970s | 78,038 |
| 1980s | 21,727 |
| 1990s | 4,945 |
| 2000s | 1,884 |
| 2010s | 1,247 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 832 |
What Lori Means
Lori means laurel, carried through Laura. The laurel was the plant Romans wove into victory wreaths, so the name carries an association with honor rather than describing a person.
Where Lori Comes From
Lori is clipped from Laura, the feminine of the Latin Laurus, the laurel or bay tree — the plant whose leaves crowned victors and poets, and which gives us laureate and baccalaureate. Laura's standing in European literature rests on Petrarch, who wrote 366 poems to a woman of that name over decades, effectively inventing the sonnet sequence and with it a great deal of how European poetry talks about love. Lori is an American twentieth-century short form and its curve is compressed: it rose and fell within about forty years.
Lori in Use
Lori peaked in the United States in 1963, when 23,947 babies were registered, and it is stable rather than falling. It charts in only three markets — 1,539th in Canada, 1,732nd in the United States on 118 births and 2,126th in England and Wales — across 345,313 lifetime births. It is on record from 1924, but almost all of that volume falls within forty years of the peak, which is the signature of a mid-century American short form.
How Popular Is Lori?
In 2025, Lori was given to 118 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Lori 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 Lori
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents Who Like Lori Also Like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Lori over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
How to Say Lori
- English LOR-ee /ˈlɔː.ɹi/
Lori 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 Lori
Names from the same era that do not rhyme or share an initial with Lori — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common Questions About Lori
What does the name Lori mean?
Laurel, carried through Laura — the plant Romans wove into victory wreaths.
Is Lori short for Laura?
Yes, and it has been registered as a full name in its own right since the twentieth century.
Is it Lori or Laurie?
Both are used; Lori is the American spelling and Laurie the more British one.
How popular is Lori?
1,732nd in the United States, and it is stable.
Is Lori a girl's or a boy's name?
Lori is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Lori?
Lori has 2 syllables.
Is Lori a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Lori currently ranks #1,539 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.