Laura
English
Alternative forms
- Lora (rare)
Etymology
From Late Latin saint's name Laura, from the feminine form of laurus (“laurel tree”). A post-classical name made famous by Petrarch's sonnets to Laura in the fourteenth century.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈlɔɹə/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈlɔːɹə/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Rhymes: -ɔːɹə
Proper noun
Laura
- A female given name from Latin.
- c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
- Now is he for the numbers that Petrarch flowed in; Laura to his lady was but a kitchen-wench; marry, she had a better love to be-rime her;
- 1960 Peter S. Beagle: A Fine And Private Place. Random House Publishing, 1982:The Fantasy Worlds of Peter Beagle. →ISBN page 258:
- Laura was saying something. A mellifluous name, he thought. I wish she were far away, so I could call her.
- 2019 February 7, Elly Griffiths, The Stone Circle: The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 11, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
- 'Mine's Laura'./ 'A beautiful name.'/ Laura has never liked her name. It's too old-fashioned and has, to her mind, a slightly whiny sound, like the twang of a country and western guitar. In fact she was given the name because Michelle liked the song 'Tell Laura I Love Her'.
Usage notes
- Also used as a feminine equivalent of Laurence.
Related terms
Translations
female given name
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Anagrams
Albanian
Proper noun
Laura f
- a female given name
Czech
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈlau̯ra]
- Hyphenation: Lau‧ra
Proper noun
Laura f
- a female given name
Declension
Danish
Etymology
Proper noun
Laura
- a female given name
References
- [2] Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 21 161 females with the given name Laura have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 2000s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin Laura.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlɑu̯.raː/
Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: Lau‧ra
Proper noun
Laura f
- a female given name
Estonian
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlɑu̯rɑ/, [ˈlɑu̯rɑ]
Proper noun
Laura
- a female given name
Faroese
Proper noun
Laura
- a female given name
Usage notes
Matronymics
- son of Laura: Lauruson
- daughter of Laura: Laurudóttir
Declension
| singular | |
|---|---|
| indefinite | |
| nominative | Laura |
| accusative | Lauru |
| dative | Lauru |
| genitive | Lauru |
Finnish
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlɑu̯rɑ/, [ˈlɑ̝u̯rɑ̝]
- Rhymes: -ɑurɑ
- Syllabification(key): Lau‧ra
- Hyphenation(key): Lau‧ra
Proper noun
Laura
- a female given name
- 1931, Frans Emil Sillanpää, “Nuorena nukkunut”, in Silja ja Ihmiset suviyössä, Suuri Suomalainen Kirjakerho, published 1988, →ISBN, page 63:
- Ja sen jälkeen taas parin vuoden kuluttua tyttö, jonka nimeksi pantiin Laura, sekin Salmeluksen vanhoja perintönimiä.
- And only a couple of years after that a girl, who was given the name Laura, yet another old name inherited from the Salmelus family.
- 1991, Anna-Leena Härkönen, Akvaariorakkautta, Otava, published 2008, →ISBN, s.183:
- —Tässä on meidän Laura ja tuo pienempi on Suvi, Marita sano.
Mä ajattelin tylsänä että kiva ku joku sinänsä epäsovinnainen ihminen oli antanu lapsilleen ihan normaalit nimet eikä mitään muotiväännöksiä niin ku monet. Kaikki sampot ja santerit ja tonterit säälittää mua suunnattomasti.- —This here is our Laura and the smaller one is Suvi, Marita said.
I thought while bored that nice that someone so nonconformist had given her children such normal names and nothing fashionable like many others. All the sampos and santeris and tonteris really make me feel pity.
- —This here is our Laura and the smaller one is Suvi, Marita said.
- 2013, Kari Hotakainen, Luonnon laki, Siltala, →ISBN, pages 17–18:
- Sen ojensi hänelle sairaanhoitaja, jonka vasemman rinnan yläpuolella oli nimikyltti: Laura. Nimi toi Rautalan mieleen vanhojen elokuvien palvelijan, joka alistuneesti nyökkäillen sipsuttelee isossa ruokasalissa tarkistamassa, että kaikki on varmasti valmiina mahakkaan tilanomistajan ja hänen rouvansa ruokailuhetkeä varten. Kävi mielessä myös mainoksen Elovena-tyttö, vaikka Lauran hiuksen olivat pikimustat ja hänellä oli korvissaan mustat napit. Hutiin siis meni Rautalan arvaus.
- It was given by the nurse, who had a name tag above her left breast: Laura. The name reminded Rautala of the servants in old firms, who submissively nod and tiptoe around in the large dining hall to check that everything is ready at the dinner table for the landowner and his mistress. The Elovena girl seen in advertisements also came to mind, even though Laura had jet black hair and her ears had black ear buds, so Rautala's guess was wrong.
Declension
| Inflection of Laura (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | Laura | Laurat | |
| genitive | Lauran | Laurojen | |
| partitive | Lauraa | Lauroja | |
| illative | Lauraan | Lauroihin | |
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | Laura | Laurat | |
| accusative | nom. | Laura | Laurat |
| gen. | Lauran | ||
| genitive | Lauran | Laurojen Laurain rare | |
| partitive | Lauraa | Lauroja | |
| inessive | Laurassa | Lauroissa | |
| elative | Laurasta | Lauroista | |
| illative | Lauraan | Lauroihin | |
| adessive | Lauralla | Lauroilla | |
| ablative | Lauralta | Lauroilta | |
| allative | Lauralle | Lauroille | |
| essive | Laurana | Lauroina | |
| translative | Lauraksi | Lauroiksi | |
| abessive | Lauratta | Lauroitta | |
| instructive | — | Lauroin | |
| comitative | See the possessive forms below. | ||
| Possessive forms of Laura (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Statistics
- Laura is the 14th most common female given name in Finland, belonging to 23,297 female individuals (and as a middle name to 3,403 more), according to February 2023 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin Laura. A Latinate variant of Laure.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lɔ.ʁa/
Audio: (file)
Proper noun
Laura f
- a female given name
German
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈlaʊ̯ʁa]
Audio (Austria): (file) Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: Lau‧ra
Proper noun
Laura (genitive Lauras or Laura)
- a female given name
Italian
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlaw.ra/
- Rhymes: -awra
- Hyphenation: Làu‧ra
Proper noun
Laura f
- a female given name
Latvian
Etymology
First recorded as a given name of Latvians in 1819. From Latin Laura.
Proper noun
Laura f
- a female given name
Related terms
References
- Klāvs Siliņš: Latviešu personvārdu vārdnīca. Riga "Zinātne" 1990, →ISBN
- [3] Population Register of Latvia: Laura was the only given name of 8301 persons in Latvia on May 21st 2010.
Lithuanian
Proper noun
Laura f
- a female given name
Norwegian
Etymology
Proper noun
Laura
- a female given name
Polish
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin Laura.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlaw.ra/
Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -awra
- Syllabification: Lau‧ra
Proper noun
Laura f
- a female given name, equivalent to English Laura
Declension
Declension of Laura
Further reading
- Laura in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Etymology
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈlaw.ɾɐ/ [ˈlaʊ̯.ɾɐ]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈlaw.ɾa/ [ˈlaʊ̯.ɾa]
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈlaw.ɾɐ/
- Rhymes: -awɾɐ
- Homophone: laura
- Hyphenation: Lau‧ra
Proper noun
Laura f (plural Lauras)
- a female given name from Latin, equivalent to English Laura
Slovak
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɫau̯ra/
Proper noun
Laura f
- a female given name
Declension
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | Laura | Laury |
| genitive | Laury | Láur |
| dative | Laure | Laurám |
| accusative | Lauru | Laury |
| locative | Laure | Laurách |
| instrumental | Laurou | Laurami |
Derived terms
Further reading
- “Laura”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025
Spanish
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlauɾa/ [ˈlau̯.ɾa]
- Rhymes: -auɾa
- Syllabification: Lau‧ra
Proper noun
Laura f
- a female given name from Latin
Swedish
Etymology
From Latin Laura. First recorded in Sweden in 1737.
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Proper noun
Laura c (genitive Lauras)
- a female given name