Laurel
Laurel was the 734th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 372 babies. Its best year was 1956, when it ranked 241st with 1,181 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 34 places. More babies were named Laurel in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Meaning laurel, bay tree · English, Latin
Say it LOR-ul /ˈlɔrəl/
- Rank in 2025
- #734 girls, down 48 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 372girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19561,181 babies
- Total since 1880
- 48,973babies recorded
What does the name Laurel mean?
Laurel is an English plant name, used for both girls and boys, as Wiktionary notes. The laurel or bay tree has aromatic leaves, and a crown of laurel was the ancient sign of victory and honor. The American Heritage Dictionary traces the word through Old French to Latin laureola, from laurea, laurel tree; Wiktionary gives the same chain from Latin laurus. Laurel has been used in the US since the 1880s.
laurus (Latin, “laurel, bay tree”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Laura, Lauren, Laurie, Lorelai.
See also: English names, names that mean tree.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'laurel' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed., entry 'laurel' (etymology), HarperCollins / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Nicknames for Laurel
The usual nicknames for Laurel are Laurie. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Laurel in the last five years, 12 were named Laurie, against 24 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurie · also for Lauren, Laura, Lawrence | Traditional | #2,842 | 253 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Laurels go by each one.
Laurel popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 1,860 since 1887.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #734 | 372 |
| 2020 | #686 | 415 |
| 2010 | #1,067 | 233 |
| 2000 | #564 | 463 |
| 1990 | #532 | 447 |
| 1980 | #449 | 477 |
| 1970 | #382 | 622 |
| 1960 | #333 | 790 |
| 1950 | #282 | 758 |
| 1940 | #406 | 287 |
| 1930 | #581 | 139 |
| 1920 | #883 | 68 |
| 1910 | #1,384 | 12 |
| 1900 | #1,272 | 10 |
| 1890 | #1,153 | 7 |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Laurel, counting every spelling?
Laurel is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #740 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #734 for Laurel on its own. Together these spellings went to 377 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel | 372 | #734 | 2,033 |
| Laurelle | 5 | #16,262 | 26 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Laurel?
372 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Laurel (0.10 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Laurel born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 23 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Laurel.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Laurel?
About 38,600 people born in the US named Laurel are alive today, with a median age of 49; half are between 27 and 68. That makes Laurel mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties. The wide spread shows a name popular in two different eras.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Laurel by state
How common Laurel was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in West Virginia (4.0×), Pennsylvania (2.8×), Tennessee (2.6×), Alabama (2.2×), Kentucky (2.1×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Arizona, Utah, New Jersey.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Laurel: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Laurel, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Laurel · Sibling names for Laurel
Questions about the name Laurel
What does Laurel mean?
Laurel means “laurel, bay tree” (English, Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Laurel?
Laurel was the 734th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 372 babies. Its best year was 1956, when it ranked 241st with 1,181 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 34 places. More babies were named Laurel in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Is Laurel a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Laurel in the US.
Where is Laurel most popular?
In 2021–2025, Laurel was most common in West Virginia (0.99 per 1,000 girls), followed by Pennsylvania and Tennessee.