Laurena
Feminine
Lorena was the song soldiers on both sides sang in the American Civil War, and officers on both sides tried to ban it. It is a song about a woman a man cannot go back to, and generals complained that it emptied their regiments — men heard it and thought about home and walked away.
How old is the name Laurena?
Laurena first appears in US birth records in 1885 — 140 years ago. The typical Laurena alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 600 people named Laurena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Laurena most popular?
Laurena peaked in 1897, reaching #1037 nationally. See the whole 1897 chart.
Where it comes from
From Laura and the laurel behind it to Laurena
The story of Laurena
The words were written by a Methodist minister in Ohio and the tune by a friend, and it came out a few years before the war. It traveled with both armies. There are memoirs describing whole camps singing it after dark, and at least one general asking for it not to be played because of what it did to morale. After the war it stayed in the repertoire for decades — a Confederate lament in the memory of the South and a plain sad song everywhere else — and the name went into the record in numbers it had never had before.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name is built on Laura, from the laurel, with an ending that American families attached freely; it may equally be Lorena respelled, which is itself a coinage. The song's author invented the name for a woman he had been engaged to and could not marry — her real name was Ella, and he rearranged a word from a poem to get Lorena, which makes the name a nineteenth-century invention with a documented moment of creation.
How the name formed
- Laura and the laurel behind it
- an Ohio minister invents Lorena for a song in the 1850s
- both armies sing it through the Civil War
- American families take the name from the song
- Laurena appears in the record in the 1880s
Related forms: Lorena · Lorena · Laura
Pronouncing Laurena
lor-EE-nuh
Three syllables with the weight in the middle. Some families say lor-AY-nuh, which the spelling permits and which is closer to Lorraine.
Nicknames for Laurena
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
- 1885
- Most girls named
- 192016 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1037reached in 1897
- Change vs 2006
- −36.4%7 in 2016, from 11
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.
Laurena in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lorena in English — spelling variant
- Lorena in Spanish — same name
- Laura in English — related form
Laurenas among us
people named Laurena 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
Laurena 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
- Rena and Laurie are both available and belong to different registers.
- It is read correctly at sight once the middle vowel is settled.
- It has a documented moment of invention, which very few names can claim.
- Lorena is the commoner spelling and will be substituted regularly.
- The middle vowel is read two ways and she will hear both.
- It belongs to the oldest layer of the American record.
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Laurena
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Laurenas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Laurena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Laurena in 2025?
- Laurena is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Laurena with classmates?
- Laurena 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 Laurena? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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