Laura
Top 1000
About Laura
Laura is a hauntingly evocative perennial, never trendy, never dated, feminine without being fussy, with long-standing literary links. All this makes Laura a more solid choice than any of its more decorative counterparts and one of the most classic girl names starting with L.
Laura has ranked on the popular names list since official US records have been kept. A frequent Top 20 name from 1963 to 1986, reaching Number 10 in 1969, Laura remained in the Top 100—minus a brief stretch from 1935 to 1944—until as recently as 2001.
The meaning of the name, laurel, implies victory via the laurel wreath worn by Olympic athletes and Roman emperors. It was first made famous by the Laura to whom the Italian Renaissance poet Petrarch dedicated many of his love poems and was later used by Dickens in Bleak House.
Well known Lauras include First Lady Bush, Little House writer Ingalls Wilder, designer Ashley, and actors Dern and Linney.
Pronounced LOR-ah.
As of October 2026, Laura ranked #379 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #10 in 1969, Nameberry popularity #270.
Editor's take: The name Laura is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "from Laurentum or bay laurel".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #315 | 1,052 | 588.9 |
| 2015 | #320 | 1,016 | 569.2 |
| 2016 | #346 | 968 | 546.3 |
| 2017 | #339 | 948 | 549.1 |
| 2018 | #339 | 946 | 556.1 |
| 2019 | #337 | 951 | 566.6 |
| 2020 | #357 | 868 | 536.9 |
| 2021 | #389 | 805 | 490.6 |
| 2022 | #363 | 873 | 532.3 |
| 2023 | #362 | 845 | 526.6 |
| 2024 | #359 | 868 | 535.7 |
| 2025 | #379 | 805 | 500.9 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Laura.
- Katherine
- Sarah
- Rachel
- Rebecca
- Marie
- Catherine
- Maria
- Julia
- Amy
- Anne
- Joanna
- Samantha
- Mary
- Elisabeth
- Anna
- Natalie
- Kate
- Bethany
- Abigail
- Hannah
Laura on lists
Famous Lauras
- Laura Ingalls Wilder
American Pioneer and children's novelist
- Laura Lane Welch Bush
U.S. First Lady as wife of President George W. Bush
- Laura Prepon
American actress
- Laura Leggett Linney
American actress
- Laura Elizabeth Dern
American actress
- Laura Kaeppeler
Miss America 2012
- Laura Beatrice Marling
English singer,songwriter
- Laura Elizabeth Carmichael
English actress
- Laura Marano
American actress
- Laura Allen
American actress
- Laura Sioux Kirkpatrick
American model
- Laura Ilene Benanti
American actress
- Laura Fraser
Scottish actress
- Laura
Leigh, (born Laura Leigh Moser), American actress
- Laura Ann Osnes
American actress and singer
- Laura Mennell
Canadian actress
- Laura Anne Ingraham
American radio host
- author
and political commentator
- Laura Ewa Łącz
Polish actress
- Laura Samojłowicz
Polish actress
- Laura Colleen Gloria Alleway
Australian soccer players
- Laura Bassett
English football player
- Laura Stéphanie Georges
French football player
- Laura Anna Benkarth
German football player
- Laura del Rio Garcia
Spanish football player
- Laura Willingham Bailey
Voice actor and player on the dnd show Critical Role
- Laura Zeng
American rhythmic gymnast
- Laura Halford
British rhythmic gymnast
- Laura Pergolizzi
American singer,songwriter who goes by LP
- Laura Sales
Portuguese rhythmic gymnast
- Laura Pausini
Italian singer
- Laura Bragato
Beautiful Italian Model
Laura in pop culture
- Laura Holt
character on TV's "Remington Steele"
- Laura Wingfield
character in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
- Laura Roslin
character on TV's "Battlestar Galactica"
- Laura Petrie
character on "The Dick van Dyke Show"
- Laura Palmer
character on TV series/film "Twin Peaks"
- Laura Winslow
character on TV's "Family Matters"
- Laura Spencer
character on American soap "General Hospital"
- Laura
character in video game Silent Hill 2
- Laura Proek
character on "Fortysomething"
- Laura Hellinger
character on TV series "The Good Wife"
- Laura Hollis
character on the web,series, "Carmilla"
- Laura Chase
character in "The Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood
- Laura "X
23" Kinney, character in "X,Men"
- Laura Victoriano
character in the video game "The Evil Within"
- Laura Moon (nee McCabe)
character in book and TV series "American Gods"
- "Tell Laura I Love Her
" song by Ray Peterson
- "Laura
" song by Scissor Sisters
- "Laura
" song by Bat For Lashes
- Laura
a character from the 3DS game "Fantasy Life"
- Laura Bow
main protagonist of her eponymous Sierra adventure game series
- Laura Hardy
the mother of the Hardy Boys
- Laura Vanderboom
character in the Cube Escape and Rusty lake series
- Laura Lawrence
character in series "Cobra Kai"
- Laura Lawrence-Weinberg
character in film "The Karate Kid"
- Laura
character in series "Friends"