Names That Mean Laurel

Mythological shepherd in love with Chloe, whose name, though the s is pronounced, is related to the feminine name Daphne - making it a lovely choice for honoring a relative of that name.

Kelilah, also spelled Kelila, is a lovely and unusual name that would make a perfect substitute for the trendy Delilah.

A Top 1000 boy name throughout the first half of the 20th century in the US, Lauren was popularized for girls by the actress Lauren Bacall. Today, while the Lauren spelling is still 99 percent feminine, Loren is truly gender-neutral, used last year for 75 baby girls and 60 baby boys.

If it's possible for a name to be too musical, this one is.

The first syllable of Laura in Italian rhymes with now, so Lauretta does not really sound like the decidedly midcentury Loretta thought most English speakers will pronounce it that way. Still, this Italian names for girls feels more closely related to the classic beauty Laura and somehow more charming and unusual.

Lauran may not be a spelling used much currently, but it was given to baby girls fairly frequently in Lauren's heyday, back in the 1980s and 1990s. The Lauran spelling relates the name more directly to its mother name Laura, but may make people think the pronunciation is lor-AHN or lor-ANN rather than simply Lauren.

This internationally appealing choice is related to far more popular cousin Kayla, which currently ranks at Number 115.

Unusual and appealing, Laurenza might make a perfect honor name for an ancestral Laura or Lawrence. Count Laurenza among the unknown-yet-usable Italian names for girls.

As represented by supermodel Laragh McCann, gives the ordinary LAURA or LARA a soft Irish accent.

A widespread name in Italy and Romania, the lovely Loredana is often claimed to have been invented by French author George Sand for a character in her 1833 novel Mattea. However, it also belonged to a 16th century Italian botanist, Loredana Marcello, known for developing treatments for various ailments. It probably derives from the Venetian surname Loredan, from the place name Loreo "laurel grove".

Lauralee might be an Anglicization of Lorelei or a compound of Laura and Lee, which makes it a botanical choice.

Larsa was the name of a city-state in Sumer, an ancient Mesopotamian civilization. It is occasionally used as a baby name in Arabic-speaking cultures, as well as in Sweden, where Larsa is a feminization of Lars.

Loretto is an old school spelling of the more common Loretta, which comes from the Italian Laura diminutive Lauretta. Antiquated to the point of extinction -- no baby girls have received the name in the US for more than half a century -- Loretto nevertheless ranked among the Top 1000 names until the early 20th centiury.

The Hebrew form of Daphne, typically only heard among Jewish families in the US.

Breton version of Laura

In the midcentury US, putting an ene or een or ine at the end of any name made it more stylish. Today, it has the opposite effect.

A pretty variation of Daphne, derived from the same Greek root.