Laura

Laurel wreaths are traditionally a symbol of honor and victory.
Pronunciation	/ˈlɔːrə/ LOR-ə German: [ˈlaʊ̯ʁa] Italian: [ˈlaura] Spanish: [ˈlawɾa] French: [lɔ.ʁa, lo-]
Gender	Female
Name day	April 18, October 19
Origin
Word/name	Italy
Meaning	Laurus nobilis
Region of origin	Latin Europe
Other names
Related names	Lauraina, Lauraine, Laure, Lauren, Lauranna, Lauriana (or Laurianna), Laurie, Lori, Laurel, Laurielle, Lara, Lora, Larissa, Laurissa, Laureen Laurentius
Laura de Noves, the subject of love poetry by Petrarch

Laura is a traditionally feminine given name in Europe and the Americas, of Latin origin, whose meaning ("bay laurel") is a metonym for a victor, and an early hypocorism from Laurel and Lauren.^[1][2][3]

Origin and usage

The name Laura is the feminized form of laurus, Latin for "bay laurel plant", which in the Greco-Roman era was used as a symbol of victory, honor or fame. The name represents the embodiment of victory and strength. The name Daphne, derived from Ancient Greek, carries the same meaning.

Popularity

In British North America, the name Laura reached 17th most popular in 1880 and 1882, but dropped to #43 in 1899. It was among the top 50 names for female newborns for much of the early 20th century in the United States, but dropped to No. 100–120 between 1930 and 1950; reached No. 10 in 1969, and has since steadily decreased in popularity.

In Europe, Laura remains popular. In 2009 it ranked within the top 10 in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Greenland, Luxembourg, Spain, and Switzerland.

Laura is occasionally conflated with Lara, which has different origins and is listed separately on name popularity lists.

Variants

• Lára: Icelandic
• Lara: Turkish
• Laoura (Λάουρα): Greek
• Laura: Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, Albanian
• Laure: French
• Lavra: Slovene
• Lora: English, Bulgarian
• Lowri: Welsh^[4]

Notable people with the name

Fictional characters

• Laura, a main character in the Sheridan Le Fanu 1871 novel Carmilla and its adaptations, including the webseries of the same name
• Laura, a lead character in the 2005 film Brick
• Laura, an anesthesiologist from the television series In Treatment
• Laura, a young girl in the Silent Hill video game franchise
• Laura, a character in the American television series The Walking Dead
• Laura, a character in Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure
• Laura Alden, a character in the 1994 film Wolf
• Laura Bristow, an alias for Irina Derevko, the mother of Sydney Bristow on the television series Alias
• Laura Carrot, a character in VeggieTales
• Laura Diamond, protagonist of the television series The Mysteries of Laura
• Laura Gauthier, a recurring character from the incomplete French TV series, Code Lyoko: Evolution
• Laura Hardy (Hardy Boys), mother from the Hardy Boys series of books
• Laura Harris, the protagonist of the video game D
• Laura Haruna (aka Hiroko), a character from the anime series Hamtaro
• Laura Horton, a former character on the soap opera Days of Our Lives
• Laura Hunt, the protagonist of Otto Preminger's 1944 film Laura
• Laura Kinney, also known as X-23, a Marvel Comics character
• Laura Lewis, the protagonist of the video game Enemy Zero
• Laura Matsuda, a character from the Street Fighter V
• Laura Palmer, from the television series Twin Peaks
• Laura Parker, an English model in Sarra Manning's Fashionistas book series
• Laura Parton, the protagonist of the video game D2
• Laura Petrie, a character from the American sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, played by Mary Tyler Moore
• Laura Roslin, from the reimagined television series Battlestar Galactica
• Laura Sorkin, a scientist from the video game Jurassic Park: The Game
• Laura Spencer, a character on the soap opera General Hospital
• Laura Tucker, a character from the American animated sitcom South Park
• Laura Winslow, a character from the American sitcom Family Matters
• Laure Berthaud, main character of French crime series Engrenages (Spiral)

Name days

Christian name days for Laura:

• January 15: Sweden
• January 18: Estonia, Finland
• January 22: France
• April 18: Latvia
• June 1: Czech Republic
• June 5: Slovakia, Slovenia
• June 17: Hungary, Lithuania, Poland
• August 10: Austria, Germany
• October 19: Lithuania, Italy, Spain, England

See also

• Laura (disambiguation)
• All pages with titles beginning with Laura

References

External links

• Works related to Laura at Wikisource