Laura 002 by Gareth Fudge via Flickr
She’s a classic appellation, almost as evergreen as Elizabeth or Mary.
Thanks to Lola for suggesting Laura as our Baby Name of the Day.
With centuries of use, Laura can’t be called trendy.
Baby Name of the Day: Laura
SkyeRhyly says
April 2, 2011 at 10:18 AMIsn’t Lauren’s origin male?
appellationmountain says
April 2, 2011 at 12:10 PMYes and no. Laurence was the preferred spelling early days; Laurencia the most formal feminine form. But in common usage, there was quite a bit of crossover in the use of short forms for many names in Medieval England. (Though I can’t find the exact spelling Lauren for either gender.)
In the 20th century, Lauren was used sparingly for boys until Lauren Bacall came along.
So … yes, it was male circa 1930, but would have been gender neutral circa 1390. I’d say Lauren sounds like a logical short form for either gender, but I can’t imagine parents picking it out of the blue for a son today. Larkin, on the other hand, could definitely work for a boy.
Sarah A says
April 2, 2011 at 12:24 PMI seem to remember reading/hearing that the Loren spelling was the preferred masculine form. Is this true? What about Lorena then, is that then related to Loren?
Sara says
April 5, 2011 at 10:59 AMSarah A. – I went to college with a family from Norwegian roots, I believe. The twin brothers were Leif and Loren.
Charlotte Vera says
April 2, 2011 at 1:32 AMI just thought I’d add that Laura Secord is now the name of a chocolate company here in Canada: http://www.laurasecord.ca/en/
Julie says
April 2, 2011 at 12:03 AMThere’s absolutely nothing wrong with Laura, but I went to school with numerous girls with a Laurel name (all of whom went by Lori)… So Laura feels like more of a “mom” name to me.
Lady Gwyn says
April 1, 2011 at 9:52 PMI can’t believe you haven’t already done Laura, I always thought of this as a classic. It has been around for centuries, after all. I really like Laura, and I only knew one growing up (and she stood out in a crowd of Jessicas, Nicoles, Amandas and Stephanies), so I still think of it as fresh and new. I am also a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder (the books, not so much the show), so I would use this name in honor of her.
Kristine says
April 1, 2011 at 6:27 PMI was surprised to read that it is as common as Kendra, Sabrina, or Eleanor, because those names don’t seem super common to me, but then I realized that I tend to clump Lauren and Laura (and I know a Laurel who also gets placed in this category) together as one name. So while I might not know thaaat many Laura’s, combined with Lauren it is too common for me.
Lemon says
April 1, 2011 at 6:08 PMAs for nicknames, I’ve known a Laura who went by Laurie and several Lauren’s who go by Lo – I assume that works for Laura, too. My brother calls me Lou and my grandmother calls me Lulu, so I guess those could pass for Laura as well, right?
Lemon says
April 1, 2011 at 6:07 PMAs a Lauren, I guess I sometimes wish I was a Laura. But, both names have pronunciation issues – [LOR-uh] versus [LAR-uh] versus [LAWR-uh]. I generally choose to ignore those problems, though…
JNE says
April 1, 2011 at 5:41 PMI like Laura. I grew up with quite a few and, consequently, it isn’t the most exciting name to me, but I do very much like it from the standpoint of it being a classic, pretty sounding name. Lauren was even more well-used among those I grew up with, so that one feels very tired to me.
It’s not a name I’d use, although I do like its simplicity. The one drawback to me is that I hear it pronounced differently by wearers and others alike, and I don’t like all pronunciations equally. It’s because of all those vowels, which make the name so open, but also so open to dialectical differences. The most common ones are LOR-uh and LAR-ah. In England, LAWR-ah is most commonly heard. My own pronunciation has varied over time, but I’m personally not as enamored with the LOR-uh pronunciation, which seems most common among the US people I’ve been around.
The lack of nicknames is also a drawback for me, but a real boon for lots of people. I don’t know any you Lauras today – glad to hear it’s not so common, but not altogether a rarity either – really would make a lovely name to honor someone in the family (oddly enough, besides not doing the honoring thing, no one in my family is a Laura). Maybe this one will be an uber-popular revival when my kids are at the age to have their own children? I wouldn’t be at all sad if that were the case!
JNE says
April 1, 2011 at 5:42 PMyeah, meant to type “young Lauras” not “you Lauras”
Sarah A says
April 1, 2011 at 1:23 PMAlmost everyone I grew up with was Kristen, Jessica, Sarah, Ashley, Megan, or Lauren, so Laura sounds kind of meh to my ears despite her evergreen nature. I much prefer Lara or Laurencia. I could see Laurencia splitting the difference between Isabella and Laura.
Charlotte Vera says
April 1, 2011 at 11:18 AMIt might surprise some people who know my mother’s older sisters, Lois and Luella, to discover that my mother’s name is Vera. Why did she miss out on receiving a name that begins with L? Well, apparently when my mother was born the only other L name her parents liked was Laura. Problematically, their neighbours already had a Laura. So my mother became the much more obscure Vera instead.
I like Laura — I think it’s pretty and incredibly wearable — but I like Vera better.
Charlotte Vera says
April 1, 2011 at 11:20 AMOn a side note, in the time and area that my mother grew up Vera wasn’t a very well-known/popular name, but Elvira was. My mum grew up constantly correcting people with a, “No, it’s just Vera”.
Lola says
April 1, 2011 at 7:02 AMAs a Laura, I’ve found both lots to love *and * hate about my name.
Some of the loves: classic, simple, just a bit frilly, easily recognisable.
Some of the hates: Too many vowels, fresh-faced, too simple.
But I do give credit to my parents for naming me Laura. It could have been so much worse!
As a teen, I remember reading some Petrarch, *that’s* ultimately what pushed me into liking my name. Well, and Ken has always told me what a pretty name I have. 🙂
It’s funny. I was the only Laura in my Grammar school, one of four in high school, one of three in college and now I live in a neighborhood where there’s one more mom Laura and now three littler Lauras,one’s 18, one’s 8 & one’s 4 . It’s rather odd hearing my name so much at home, but it makes me appreciate it a bit more everytime I hear it aloud.
I still wish Laura had more nickname options! 😀
sadiesadie says
April 1, 2011 at 6:50 AMI love the sound of Laura. The only problem is that three of my friends growing up had that name so it doesn’t sound fresh.
Colleen says
April 1, 2011 at 6:25 AMLaura might be about as lovely a name as you can get. I can’t think of anything negative about it. Beautiful, familiar but not trendy, complete sounding but not too long, perfect.
photoquilty says
April 1, 2011 at 6:24 AMLaura was my paternal grandmother. I thought I’d honor her by naming a potential daughter Lauren, but though I found that name fresh several years ago, it’s stopped sounding interesting since a friend used it on her daughter. Laura itself sounds increasingly pretty. Unfortunately, our last name starts with a L, and hat works for Laura Linney (amazing actress) would not work for us. Laura would have to be in the middle, if I were to ever have a third child.