Laurel

Laurel: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“laurel tree; bay tree”
Origin
Latin
Say it
LOR-uhl · 2 syllables
Used for
Girls (96% of all uses)

From Latin laurus, the bay laurel associated in antiquity with victory and honor. It is also used directly as the English tree name.

How popular is Laurel?

2024116 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Laurel in 2024386

2024 rank#727 girls

Peak year1956

Total US babies since 188048,599

Laurel is rising: use over the last five years is 1.6× what it was a decade earlier.

Names like Laurel

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Laurel questions

What does the name Laurel mean?

Laurel means "laurel tree; bay tree". It comes from Latin. From Latin laurus, the bay laurel associated in antiquity with victory and honor. It is also used directly as the English tree name.

Is Laurel a boy or girl name?

Laurel is mainly a girl's name in US records (96% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Laurel?

386 US babies were named Laurel in 2024. Its peak year was 1956.

How do you pronounce Laurel?

Laurel is usually pronounced LOR-uhl.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.