Meaning and history
From Latin laurus meaning “laurel,” a favourable association in ancient Rome because laurel leaves were used for victors’ garlands, Laura was borne by the 9th-century Spanish martyr Saint Laura, a nun thrown into a vat of molten lead by the Moors, and was also the subject of poems by the 14th-century Italian poet Petrarch. The name has been used as an English name since the 13th century, and notable bearers include Laura Secord (1775–1868), a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812, and Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957), the American author of the Little House on the Prairie novels.
20062006: 2,066 births, rank #172
2007: 1,844 births, rank #183
2008: 1,595 births, rank #215
2009: 1,414 births, rank #234
2010: 1,214 births, rank #271
20112011: 1,171 births, rank #273
2012: 1,146 births, rank #279
2013: 1,029 births, rank #314
2014: 1,052 births, rank #315
2015: 1,016 births, rank #320
20162016: 968 births, rank #345
2017: 948 births, rank #339
2018: 947 births, rank #339
2019: 951 births, rank #337
2020: 871 births, rank #356
20212021: 807 births, rank #389
2022: 874 births, rank #363
2023: 846 births, rank #362
2024: 872 births, rank #357
20252025: 805 births, rank #379
Laura moved from #359 to #379 for girls between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1964, with 18,967 births.