Laurel
Laurel is ranked 728th among girls in 2024 (386 births). Its best rank was 241st, in 1956.
- Rank in 2024
- #728down 13 from 2023
- Births in 2024
- 3860.02% of girls
- Peak year
- 19561,181 births
- Best rank
- #241in 1956
- Since 1883
- 48,599people given the name
The story in the numbers
46,739 girls have been named Laurel in the United States since 1883, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1956, with 1,181 births.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 816 → 728).
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1968, and the 1950s alone account for 20%. It has spent 117 of 145 years in the top 1,000.
It is overwhelmingly a girl’s name: 1,860 boys have also been given it, 3.8% of the total.
Rank among girls, year by year
By decade
| Decade | girls named Laurel | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 42 | |
| 1890s | 98 | |
| 1900s | 108 | |
| 1910s | 366 | |
| 1920s | 1,437 | |
| 1930s | 1,525 | |
| 1940s | 4,890 | |
| 1950s | 9,439 | |
| 1960s | 6,365 | |
| 1970s | 4,065 | |
| 1980s | 4,901 | |
| 1990s | 4,365 | |
| 2000s | 3,445 | |
| 2010s | 3,618 | |
| 2020s | 2,075 |
In 1956, its biggest year
Laurel was the 241st most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1956 were Mary, Debra, Linda, Deborah and Susan. See all of 1956.
Names that rose and fell with Laurel
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Maripeak 1957
- Dianapeak 1957
- Lynnapeak 1963
- Linpeak 1952
- Irishpeak 1960
- Raelenepeak 1959
- Mimipeak 1961
- Janeypeak 1947
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.