Laurel

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Laurel, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Iris
• Ivy
• Fern
• Hazel
• Holly

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Laurel is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate name2 spellings in the group

  Also written Laurèl

• Portuguese name2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States

  Also written Laurél

• Russian given name13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Ukraine

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian

  Also written Лаурель, Лорел, Lorel, Лаурел, Laurél

66 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Laurel is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• 19th-century adoption of the vocabulary word for the tree (Middle English Jorel, a dissimilated form of Old French lorer), probably influenced by pLaura. It may have been taken as a pet form of the latter.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In Spanish, topographic name for someone who lived by a laurel tree, Spanish laurel (Latin laurus), or a habitational name from Laurel in the Canary Islands.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, Laurus nobilis, an evergreen shrub having aromatic leaves of a lanceolate shape, with clusters of small, yellowish white flowers in their axils.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, du nom du laurier; apparenté à Laura/Laurent. Fête: 10 août, saint Laurent.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• English: 19th-century adoption of the English vocabulary word denoting the tree (Middle English lorel , a dissimilated form of Old French lorer ), probably influenced by LAURA . It may have been taken as a pet form of LAURA . Variant (elaborated form): Laurelle. Pet form: Laurie .

  as a word

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Stan Laurelb. 1890GBEnglish actor (1890–1965)
• José Paciano Laurelb. 1891PHPresident of the Philippines from 1943 to 1945
• Laurel Clarkb. 1961USNASA astronaut, medical doctor, United States Navy Captain, and Space Shuttle mission specialist (1961-2003)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

64 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 34 countries.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Laurel mean, and where does it come from?

French personal name and surname meaning literally 'someone who lives by a laurel tree'. Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

Which countries have the most people named Laurel?

In the United States, the national register counted about 40 thousand people named Laurel, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled laurel. After it come United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and India; the country table on this page ranks them.

How common is the name Laurel?

In the United States, the national register counted 40,185 people named Laurel in 2020, about 1 in 8.3 thousand residents.