Laurel
Meaning
“'laurel tree', from Latin laurus”
The story
Laurel comes from the name of the laurel tree, ultimately from the Latin laurus, and Behind the Name leaves the botany to speak for itself. The American record gives it a long working life: about 98 girls in the 1890s, about 1,440 in the 1920s, about 4,890 in the 1940s and about 9,440 in the 1950s, and then a remarkable steadiness: every completed decade since the 1940s has stayed above three thousand, with about 3,620 in the 2010s and about 2,450 so far this decade. A boys' line ran alongside early, a few hundred a decade into the midcentury. A tree on the label with no legend required, a record that never needed a revival, and eight straight decades of quiet, unbroken, working use.
Laurel around the world
One shared root links 8 names across 3 languages.
Shared root: from Latin laurus "laurel", the victor's crown; Laura is its medieval feminine
The constellation
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Laurel peaked in the 1950s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
29 people · the #96,655 first name in Brazil · median age 39
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Laurel
People given the name Laurel in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 2009. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Laurel deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Laurel truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Laurel fits with your family’s names and surname.
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