Laura
Laura was given to 805 girls in 2025, #379 among girls’ names; 804,390 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 604,000 Americans named Laura and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (75% of everyone recorded); the median is 53 years old and half are between 40 and 63.
Laura is the #24 most common first name among living American women and girls, by this estimate.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Laura by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Laura mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Laura is “a female given name from Latin.” Its etymology gives the sense “laurel tree” (laurus).
From Late Latin saint’s name Laura, from the feminine form of laurus (“laurel tree”). A post-classical name made famous by Petrarch’s sonnets to Laura in the fourteenth century.
/lɑːɹə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Laura?
#379 among girls’ names, 2025
Laura fell from #320 in 2015 to #379 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 0.57 to 0.50 per 1,000.
19,008 babies in 1964, the peak
Laura peaked in 1964, when 19,008 babies were given it (18,967 girls, #14 among girls’ names). The 805 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 805 | #379 | 0.50 |
| 2024 | 872 | #359 | 0.54 |
| 2023 | 846 | #362 | 0.53 |
| 2022 | 874 | #363 | 0.53 |
| 2021 | 807 | #389 | 0.49 |
| 2020 | 871 | #356 | 0.54 |
| 2019 | 951 | #337 | 0.57 |
| 2018 | 947 | #339 | 0.56 |
| 2017 | 948 | #340 | 0.55 |
| 2016 | 968 | #346 | 0.55 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,016 | #320 | 0.57 |
| 2014 | 1,052 | #315 | 0.59 |
| 2013 | 1,029 | #315 | 0.59 |
| 2012 | 1,146 | #279 | 0.65 |
| 2011 | 1,171 | #273 | 0.67 |
| 2010 | 1,214 | #271 | 0.68 |
| 2009 | 1,414 | #234 | 0.77 |
| 2008 | 1,595 | #215 | 0.84 |
| 2007 | 1,844 | #183 | 1.0 |
| 2006 | 2,066 | #172 | 1.1 |
| 2005 | 2,356 | #146 | 1.3 |
| 2004 | 2,555 | #129 | 1.4 |
| 2003 | 2,750 | #124 | 1.5 |
| 2002 | 3,159 | #105 | 1.8 |
| 2001 | 3,563 | #86 | 2.0 |
| 2000 | 3,741 | #85 | 2.1 |
| 1999 | 3,878 | #81 | 2.2 |
| 1998 | 4,298 | #74 | 2.4 |
| 1997 | 4,851 | #66 | 2.8 |
| 1996 | 5,227 | #66 | 3.0 |
| 1995 | 6,008 | #56 | 3.4 |
| 1994 | 6,860 | #46 | 3.8 |
| 1993 | 7,262 | #43 | 4.0 |
| 1992 | 8,311 | #38 | 4.5 |
| 1991 | 9,644 | #35 | 5.1 |
| 1990 | 10,914 | #29 | 5.7 |
| 1989 | 11,740 | #25 | 6.4 |
| 1988 | 12,126 | #23 | 6.8 |
| 1987 | 13,033 | #22 | 7.5 |
| 1986 | 14,172 | #20 | 8.3 |
| 1985 | 16,002 | #14 | 9.3 |
| 1984 | 14,818 | #19 | 8.8 |
| 1983 | 13,199 | #23 | 7.9 |
| 1982 | 13,310 | #22 | 7.9 |
| 1981 | 13,292 | #21 | 8.0 |
| 1980 | 12,916 | #21 | 7.8 |
| 1979 | 11,880 | #20 | 7.4 |
| 1978 | 11,240 | #19 | 7.3 |
| 1977 | 11,318 | #20 | 7.4 |
| 1976 | 11,252 | #20 | 7.7 |
| 1975 | 10,311 | #20 | 7.1 |
| 1974 | 9,716 | #21 | 6.6 |
| 1973 | 10,344 | #19 | 7.1 |
| 1972 | 11,778 | #17 | 7.7 |
| 1971 | 13,875 | #16 | 8.3 |
| 1970 | 16,490 | #13 | 9.4 |
| 1969 | 17,922 | #10 | 10.6 |
| 1968 | 18,741 | #11 | 11.4 |
| 1967 | 15,819 | #15 | 9.6 |
| 1966 | 15,553 | #19 | 9.2 |
| 1965 | 16,218 | #17 | 9.2 |
| 1964 | 18,967 | #14 | 10.0 |
| 1963 | 18,514 | #16 | 9.6 |
| 1962 | 17,490 | #21 | 8.9 |
| 1961 | 17,901 | #21 | 8.9 |
| 1960 | 17,060 | #25 | 8.4 |
| 1959 | 14,528 | #30 | 7.2 |
| 1958 | 13,513 | #29 | 6.7 |
| 1957 | 12,181 | #31 | 6.0 |
| 1956 | 10,570 | #34 | 5.3 |
| 1955 | 9,008 | #41 | 4.6 |
| 1954 | 8,719 | #45 | 4.5 |
| 1953 | 7,628 | #51 | 4.1 |
| 1952 | 7,188 | #53 | 3.9 |
| 1951 | 6,466 | #60 | 3.6 |
| 1950 | 5,725 | #63 | 3.3 |
| 1949 | 5,384 | #65 | 3.1 |
| 1948 | 4,901 | #73 | 2.9 |
| 1947 | 5,051 | #74 | 2.8 |
| 1946 | 4,478 | #75 | 2.8 |
| 1945 | 3,589 | #77 | 2.7 |
| 1944 | 2,244 | #119 | 1.7 |
| 1943 | 2,391 | #117 | 1.7 |
| 1942 | 2,409 | #115 | 1.8 |
| 1941 | 2,274 | #115 | 1.9 |
| 1940 | 2,350 | #108 | 2.1 |
| 1939 | 2,376 | #107 | 2.2 |
| 1938 | 2,442 | #108 | 2.2 |
| 1937 | 2,363 | #105 | 2.2 |
| 1936 | 2,255 | #106 | 2.2 |
| 1935 | 2,358 | #101 | 2.2 |
| 1934 | 2,438 | #96 | 2.3 |
| 1933 | 2,536 | #91 | 2.5 |
| 1932 | 2,748 | #88 | 2.6 |
| 1931 | 2,669 | #89 | 2.5 |
| 1930 | 2,908 | #89 | 2.6 |
| 1929 | 2,936 | #90 | 2.6 |
| 1928 | 3,146 | #83 | 2.7 |
| 1927 | 3,338 | #82 | 2.8 |
| 1926 | 3,373 | #81 | 2.8 |
| 1925 | 3,588 | #75 | 2.9 |
| 1924 | 3,829 | #72 | 3.1 |
| 1923 | 3,710 | #73 | 3.1 |
| 1922 | 3,902 | #68 | 3.2 |
| 1921 | 3,998 | #71 | 3.2 |
| 1920 | 4,171 | #63 | 3.5 |
| 1919 | 3,663 | #71 | 3.2 |
| 1918 | 4,062 | #64 | 3.5 |
| 1917 | 3,807 | #65 | 3.5 |
| 1916 | 3,744 | #64 | 3.6 |
| 1915 | 3,723 | #61 | 3.8 |
| 1914 | 3,059 | #59 | 4.0 |
| 1913 | 2,454 | #62 | 3.9 |
| 1912 | 2,413 | #57 | 4.3 |
| 1911 | 1,790 | #57 | 4.3 |
| 1910 | 1,834 | #53 | 4.6 |
| 1909 | 1,524 | #55 | 4.4 |
| 1908 | 1,558 | #52 | 4.7 |
| 1907 | 1,621 | #51 | 5.1 |
| 1906 | 1,467 | #52 | 5.0 |
| 1905 | 1,566 | #49 | 5.4 |
| 1904 | 1,508 | #47 | 5.5 |
| 1903 | 1,503 | #43 | 5.7 |
| 1902 | 1,559 | #43 | 5.9 |
| 1901 | 1,402 | #44 | 5.9 |
| 1900 | 1,824 | #45 | 6.1 |
| 1899 | 1,472 | #43 | 6.3 |
| 1898 | 1,768 | #38 | 6.8 |
| 1897 | 1,585 | #39 | 6.8 |
| 1896 | 1,665 | #37 | 7.0 |
| 1895 | 1,643 | #36 | 7.0 |
| 1894 | 1,730 | #32 | 7.8 |
| 1893 | 1,683 | #31 | 7.9 |
| 1892 | 1,744 | #29 | 8.2 |
| 1891 | 1,509 | #30 | 8.1 |
| 1890 | 1,634 | #27 | 8.6 |
| 1889 | 1,567 | #25 | 8.8 |
| 1888 | 1,624 | #25 | 9.1 |
| 1887 | 1,364 | #22 | 9.3 |
| 1886 | 1,372 | #22 | 9.5 |
| 1885 | 1,325 | #21 | 10.0 |
| 1884 | 1,246 | #21 | 9.7 |
| 1883 | 1,183 | #19 | 10.5 |
| 1882 | 1,151 | #17 | 10.7 |
| 1881 | 962 | #19 | 10.5 |
| 1880 | 1,012 | #17 | 11.1 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Laura a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Laura has been given almost only to girls: 2,579 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Laura: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Laura, and how old are they?
604,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 75% of the 804,390 Americans ever recorded as Laura. The median Laura alive today is 53 years old; half are between 40 and 63.
The 2020 Census counted 679,856 people named Laura (679,260 women and girls, 596 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 627,994 born in the U.S. The Census count is 8% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 13,500 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 166,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 200,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 171,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 41,200 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 11,900 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Laura born?
The states with the most babies named Laura are California, New York and Texas, with 26% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 76,491 | #464 | 1.0× |
| New York | 62,668 | #345 | 1.0× |
| Texas | 56,663 | #350 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 45,074 | #426 | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 38,189 | #423 | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 35,773 | #262 | 0.8× |
| Michigan | 32,936 | #712 | 1.0× |
| New Jersey | 23,555 | #369 | 1.0× |
| Florida | 21,237 | #280 | 0.9× |
| Massachusetts | 20,723 | #179 | 1.0× |
Where Laura is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Laura is most over-represented in Illinois: since 1910 it was given 1.1 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Laura with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 1,072,840 babies since 1880, Laura is the most given (75% of them). In 2025 it was given to 805 of their 1,358 babies (59%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Laura
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1880-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Lora | 52,484 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Laura and names like it
- Compare Laura and LaurieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sLaura peaked in 1964.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Laura since 1910.
- Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Laura: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1964The year the most babies were named Laura.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Laura alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with LMost given first.