MEANING & HISTORY
What does Laura mean?
Laura is a Latin-derived name associated with laurus, the laurel tree. Classical laurel wreaths helped give the plant associations with honour and victory.
Those are cultural symbols, while the tree itself supplies the direct root. Saint-name history and Petrarch’s poetry contributed to Laura’s European transmission. The name is not automatically a shortened Lauren in its older formation.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
English
- /lɑːɹə/General-American
- /lɔːɹə/General-American
- /ˈlɔːɹə/Received-Pronunciation
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
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.
A female given name from Latin.
SpanishEtymology & source
Derived from Latin Laura.
a female given name from Latin
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Laura
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Laura Lehmann
Filipino-German TV host, model, and beauty pageant titleholder
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Laura Marie Dunlap
Filipino beauty pageant contestant
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
1
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
3
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Laura Marie Dunlap, Laura Lehmann
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Laura in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Laura
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Lara♀Russian familiar form of Larissa
- Lauro♂Laurel
- Maura♀Irish Mary-name form; also Latin Maura
- Lacsa·As a historical Tagalog numeral: ten thousand
- Larry♂Familiar form of Laurence or Lawrence
- Laurel♂♀The laurel tree
- Lauren♂♀Laurentius-family form, associated with laurel
- Pura·Spanish pure; also a Purificación short form
What rhymes with Laura?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
Explore Laura further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q429948 — Laura (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Laura Marie Dunlap (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q429948 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Laura Lehmann (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q429948 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Laura (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Laura (Spanish) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Laura (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.