Laraine
Feminine · “from Lorraine”
Laraine is Lorraine with the first vowel written as it is actually said. English reduces an unstressed opening syllable almost to nothing, so the o in Lorraine carries no weight and can be written a without changing a thing — and one film actress made that spelling her own.
How old is the name Laraine?
Laraine first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Laraine alive today was born around 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 2,400 people named Laraine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Laraine most popular?
Laraine peaked in 1945, reaching #472 nationally. See the whole 1945 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Lorraine to Laraine
The story of Laraine
An American actress born Laraine Johnson took Laraine Day as her screen name in the nineteen-thirties, and for the following two decades she was among the most visible women in Hollywood, in a series of hospital pictures and thrillers. The spelling had existed in small numbers before her; after her it became the standard alternative to Lorraine, and its peak in the American record falls squarely in her most prominent years. Whether parents were naming daughters for her or simply had the spelling in front of them is not something the record can say, but the two curves sit on top of each other.
Meaning
from Lorraine
The name is a French region used as a personal name. The region takes its own name from a Frankish king, so the meaning is a place, and behind the place a person, and behind him nothing further.
How the name formed
- Lorraine
- Laraine
Related forms: Lorraine
Pronouncing Laraine
luh-RAYN
Two syllables with the weight at the back. Laraine and Lorraine are said identically, which is why both spellings have survived.
Nicknames for Laraine
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1913
- Most girls named
- 1947268 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #472reached in 1945
- Change vs 2021
- −14.3%6 in 2024, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Laraine in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lorraine in French — spelling variant
Laraines among us
people named Laraine are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Laraine sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is said correctly at sight by anyone who has met either spelling.
- Raine and Rainey are ready short forms and both stand alone as names.
- The place behind it is real, mapped and has a documented history.
- Lorraine is the commoner spelling and will be written instead.
- The two spellings sound identical, so the letters have to be given every time.
- It reads as a name of the middle of the twentieth century.
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Laraine
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Laraines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,400 people named Laraine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Laraine in 2025?
- Laraine is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Laraine with classmates?
- Laraine will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Linda#902 · Lisa#987 · Laura#379 · Lauren#401 · Lillian#57 · Lori#1721 · Louise#514 · Lois#1666
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Laraine? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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