Lauralei
A feminine name derived from the laurel tree and meaning "laurel crown".
Name Census estimates that about 119 living Americans carry the first name Lauralei. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lauralei today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lauralei births was 2010 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lauralei. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
119
~ 1 in 2,880,289 Americans
Peak year
2010
9 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,565
Tracked since 1980
Census
Lauralei in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 157 people with the first name Lauralei, which placed it at #44,257 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#44,257
National first-name rank
People counted
157
157 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lauralei
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lauralei is White at 85.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.6%) and Hispanic (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Lauralei described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Lauralei at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.4% · 134
- Two or more races7.6% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 11
Popularity
Lauralei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lauralei from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 46 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Lauralei remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lauralei by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Lauralei during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lauralei
The given name Lauralei has its origins in the German and Dutch languages, tracing back to the late 18th or early 19th century. It is a combination of the feminine given name Laura, derived from the Latin word "laurus" meaning laurel, and the suffix "-lei," which is a diminutive form used in certain Germanic languages.
The name Laura itself has a rich history, with roots in ancient Roman mythology. The laurel tree was sacred to Apollo, the god of poetry and music, and victors in ancient Greek and Roman competitions were often crowned with laurel wreaths as a symbol of honor and achievement. Over time, the name Laura came to be associated with these qualities of artistic expression, victory, and nobility.
While there are no known references to the specific name Lauralei in ancient texts or historical records, it is believed to have emerged as a variation of Laura, reflecting the linguistic influences of German and Dutch cultures. The addition of the diminutive suffix "-lei" lent a sense of endearment and affection to the name.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Lauralei can be found in the work of German Romantic writer Clemens Brentano, who penned the famous poem "Lore Lay" in 1801. This poem tells the story of a beautiful maiden named Lore Lay, who haunts the Rhine River and lures sailors to their deaths with her enchanting song.
Notable individuals who have borne the name Lauralei throughout history include:
1. Lauralei Jennings (1921-2001), an American actress and dancer known for her roles in Broadway productions and Hollywood films in the 1940s and 1950s.
2. Lauralei Caubble (born 1963), an American painter and sculptor whose works explore themes of nature, femininity, and the human form.
3. Lauralei de Felice (born 1955), an American author and educator who has written several books on personal growth and spirituality.
4. Lauralei Mudd (born 1966), a Canadian artist and illustrator renowned for her whimsical and imaginative drawings and paintings.
5. Lauralei Glista (born 1974), an American entrepreneur and co-founder of a successful technology company specializing in cybersecurity solutions.
While the name Lauralei may not be as commonly used as some other variations of Laura, it has a rich and evocative history that combines elements of ancient Roman mythology, German Romanticism, and the enduring appeal of names with diminutive forms that convey warmth and affection.
People
Lauralei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lauralei as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lauralei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lauralei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 119 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lauralei going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,880,289 US residents.
Is Lauralei a common name?
We classify Lauralei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 121 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lauralei most popular?
The single biggest year for Lauralei was 2010, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lauralei is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lauralei in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 157 people with the name Lauralei, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,257 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Lauralei in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Lauralei?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lauralei leans strongly female. 166 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Lauralei?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lauralei is White at 85.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.6%) and Hispanic (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Lauralei most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lauralei in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.4% (134 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Lauralei in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lauralei a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lauralei in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Lauralei still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lauralei in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Lauralei can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Lauralei?
Find out how many people share the name Lauralei on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.