Head to head · Girls' names
Laurel vs Persephone
#734 vs #734 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Laurel and Persephone share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#734). The records cannot split them; sound and story will.
Each name in full: Laurel · Persephone
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Laurel leads 3 measures of 6; Persephone leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Laurel — holding its place on the charts. About 39,500 people named Laurel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Persephone — holding its place on the charts. About 4,900 people named Persephone are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Laurel #936, Persephone — — Laurel higher
- 1890s: Laurel #1067, Persephone — — Laurel higher
- 1900s: Laurel #1176, Persephone — — Laurel higher
- 1910s: Laurel #1051, Persephone — — Laurel higher
- 1920s: Laurel #636, Persephone — — Laurel higher
- 1930s: Laurel #583, Persephone — — Laurel higher
- 1940s: Laurel #347, Persephone — — Laurel higher
- 1950s: Laurel #274, Persephone — — Laurel higher
- 1960s: Laurel #376, Persephone #5966 — Laurel higher
- 1970s: Laurel #482, Persephone #5833 — Laurel higher
- 1980s: Laurel #447, Persephone #8235 — Laurel higher
- 1990s: Laurel #551, Persephone #6293 — Laurel higher
- 2000s: Laurel #787, Persephone #3743 — Laurel higher
- 2010s: Laurel #799, Persephone #1320 — Laurel higher
- 2020s: Laurel #702, Persephone #748 — Laurel higher
Laurel stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Laurel | Persephone |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #936 | — |
| 1890s | #1067 | — |
| 1900s | #1176 | — |
| 1910s | #1051 | — |
| 1920s | #636 | — |
| 1930s | #583 | — |
| 1940s | #347 | — |
| 1950s | #274 | — |
| 1960s | #376 | #5966 |
| 1970s | #482 | #5833 |
| 1980s | #447 | #8235 |
| 1990s | #551 | #6293 |
| 2000s | #787 | #3743 |
| 2010s | #799 | #1320 |
| 2020s | #702 | #748 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Laurel
the bay laurel
The English name of the tree, from the Latin. The plant is the one used for wreaths and the one whose leaves go into a stew, and those are the same species despite the distance between the two uses.
laurus → laurel → Laurel
How it traveled
It is the only thing in a kitchen cupboard that also crowned emperors. Bay leaves are an entirely ordinary cooking ingredient, dropped into stocks and stews and fished out again, and the tree they come from is the tree that was made into wreaths for victorious generals, winning athletes and honored poets.
Persephone
Not established
No one has settled it. The name resists Greek explanation, and ancient sources spell it several different ways — Persephone, Persephassa, Phersephone — which is usually a sign of a word borrowed into Greek from an older language of the region rather than built inside it. Ancient Greek writers themselves reached for a folk etymology linking it to words for bringing destruction, but that reading is a guess made by people already living with the myth. What is documented: she was also called simply Kore, 'the maiden'.
Περσεφόνη (Persephónē) → Proserpina (Latin) → Persephone (English)
How it traveled
The name belongs first to Greek myth, where Persephone is the daughter of Demeter, carried off to the underworld and returned for part of each year — the story the Homeric Hymn to Demeter tells at length, and the story ancient Greeks read as an account of why the growing season comes and goes. Her cult at Eleusis kept the name in ritual use for centuries.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Laurel
LOR-ul
Two syllables with the stress at the front and the second reduced. Some speakers say LAR-ul, which is a regional difference rather than an error.
- Laurie — A standing name in its own right and used for both sexes.
- Rel — The back of the name; unusual and rarely written.
Persephone
per-SEF-uh-nee
Four syllables, stress on the second, and the last syllable rhymes with 'knee' — not 'phone'. Anyone who has met Penelope or Antigone will land on it without help; some people need to be told once.
- Persie — The most common everyday short form among English-speaking families; informal only.
- Seph — Clipped from the middle of the name; used informally and works across ages.
- Sephy — Softer version of Seph, more often heard with small children.
- Percy — Borrowed from the first syllables; also stands alone as a traditional boys' name in English, so it reads as unisex.
- Also Effie.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Laurel if you want…
- a name holding steadyLaurel is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesLaurel is 2 syllables to Persephone's 3
Choose Persephone if you want…
- a name on the way upup 84 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itPersephone runs 3 syllables, Laurel 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Persie, Seph and Sephy
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Laurel
Strengths
- The meaning is concrete, visible and needs no explaining.
- It has stayed in steady use for over a century without a fashion behind it.
- The spelling is short and gives no trouble.
To consider
- It is an ordinary English noun and will be read as one.
- Laurel and Lauryl and Loral all appear and the spelling occasionally gets queried.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
Persephone
Strengths
- A written record stretching back to archaic Greece, with the spelling essentially unchanged.
- Several real short forms already in use — Persie, Seph, Sephy — so there is an everyday option built in.
- Follows the familiar Greek four-syllable stress pattern of Penelope, so most readers guess it correctly.
To consider
- The myth is not a gentle one — abduction, the underworld, a bargain about the dead. Most people think first of spring returning, but some will think of the darker half, and it comes up often enough that it is worth being ready for.
- Expect a share of people saying 'per-se-PHONE' on first sight, and a lifetime of gentle corrections. The name is long for forms, name tags and school worksheets.
- Its use is heavily concentrated among very young children right now, so it reads as a contemporary choice rather than a family-heirloom one, despite its age.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Laurel and Persephone in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Laurel and Persephone?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
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- all guides
Where Laurel and Persephone each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Laurel or Persephone — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Laurel or Persephone?
- They tie in 2025: Laurel ranked #734 with 372 babies; Persephone ranked #734 with 372 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Laurel or Persephone?
- Persephone. Over the last five years Laurel moved down 49 places; Persephone moved up 84 places.
- Which is the older name, Laurel or Persephone?
- Laurel entered the US charts in 1883; Persephone entered the US charts in 1962. On the American record, Laurel is the older name.
- How many people are named Laurel and Persephone?
- About 39,500 people named Laurel are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 4,900 people named Persephone are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Laurels or Persephones in the classroom?
- Laurel will almost certainly be the only one in school. Persephone will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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