Head to head · Girls' names
Laurel vs Ramona
#734 vs #733 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Ramona is a whisker ahead (#733 vs #734 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Ramona leads 6 measures of 6; Laurel leads 0.
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
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Laurel #936, Ramona #810 — Ramona higher
- 1890s: Laurel #1067, Ramona #644 — Ramona higher
- 1900s: Laurel #1176, Ramona #504 — Ramona higher
- 1910s: Laurel #1051, Ramona #383 — Ramona higher
- 1920s: Laurel #636, Ramona #282 — Ramona higher
- 1930s: Laurel #583, Ramona #184 — Ramona higher
- 1940s: Laurel #347, Ramona #250 — Ramona higher
- 1950s: Laurel #274, Ramona #210 — Ramona higher
- 1960s: Laurel #376, Ramona #241 — Ramona higher
- 1970s: Laurel #482, Ramona #396 — Ramona higher
- 1980s: Laurel #447, Ramona #767 — Laurel higher
- 1990s: Laurel #551, Ramona #1520 — Laurel higher
- 2000s: Laurel #787, Ramona #2107 — Laurel higher
- 2010s: Laurel #799, Ramona #1107 — Laurel higher
- 2020s: Laurel #702, Ramona #779 — Laurel higher
Ramona stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Laurel has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Laurel | Ramona |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #936 | #810 |
| 1890s | #1067 | #644 |
| 1900s | #1176 | #504 |
| 1910s | #1051 | #383 |
| 1920s | #636 | #282 |
| 1930s | #583 | #184 |
| 1940s | #347 | #250 |
| 1950s | #274 | #210 |
| 1960s | #376 | #241 |
| 1970s | #482 | #396 |
| 1980s | #447 | #767 |
| 1990s | #551 | #1520 |
| 2000s | #787 | #2107 |
| 2010s | #799 | #1107 |
| 2020s | #702 | #779 |
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.
Ramona
protecting counsel, from Germanic elements meaning advice and protection
The parts are ragin, 'counsel, advice', and mund, 'protection' — the same pair behind Raymond.
Raginmund → Raimund → Ramón → Ramona
How it traveled
The root is Germanic: Raginmund, built from words for counsel and protection, carried into Spain and southern France by Visigothic and Frankish speakers. In Spanish it wore down to Ramón, and Ramona was formed from it as the feminine — a pattern Spanish uses freely.
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.
Ramona
ruh-MOH-nuh
Stress on the middle syllable. In Spanish it is rah-MOH-nah, with a clearer first vowel and a tapped r — both versions are correct depending on which language the family is speaking.
- Mona — The oldest and most common short form, and a standalone given name in its own right in several languages.
- Romy — A modern clipping, also used independently as a given name.
- Ro — Very informal, mostly within families.
- Rae — Informal, drawn from the first syllable; also a given name on its own.
- Also Mo.
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 Ramona's 3
Choose Ramona if you want…
- a name on the way upup 70 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itRamona runs 3 syllables, Laurel 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Mona, Romy and Ro
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.
Ramona
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and read correctly on sight by most English speakers, with no competing variants to explain.
- Works unchanged in Spanish, Catalan and Romanian — useful in a bilingual family.
- An unbroken run in American records going back to the nineteenth century, so it has never needed reintroducing.
To consider
- The children's books about Ramona Quimby are still widely read, so a child may meet her own name in a classroom read-aloud — often a delight, occasionally the source of a teasing nickname from the title Ramona the Pest.
- It is currently far more common among older generations than among children, which means a Ramona today will likely be the only one in her school and may be told the name belonged to someone's aunt.
- People who know the name will spell it fine; people who don't sometimes reach for Romona or Ramonda, so expect an occasional correction.
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 Ramona 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 Ramona?
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 than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- Spring names, fresh from the thaw
- Tree names with deep roots
- Herb and spice names in real use
- all guides
Where Laurel and Ramona each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Laurel or Ramona — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Laurel or Ramona?
- Ramona, in 2025: Ramona ranked #733 with 373 babies; Laurel ranked #734 with 372 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Laurel or Ramona?
- Ramona. Over the last five years Laurel moved down 49 places; Ramona moved up 70 places.
- Which is the older name, Laurel or Ramona?
- Laurel entered the US charts in 1883; Ramona entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Ramona is the older name.
- How many people are named Laurel and Ramona?
- About 39,500 people named Laurel are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 46,000 people named Ramona are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Laurels or Ramonas in the classroom?
- Laurel will almost certainly be the only one in school. Ramona 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Laurel, Ramona and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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