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National Laura Day

A name day on December 23 honoring individuals named Laura and the name's cultural legacy in literature, fashion, and public life.

Wednesday

December 2026

Last updated March 21, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar Team

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YEARLY DATEDecember 23

OBSERVED INUnited States

CATEGORYNames

ORIGIN

Community Origin

FOUNDING ENTITY

Not documented

FIRST OBSERVED

~2006

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

No documented founder or formal establishment record has been identified. Online holiday listings began featuring the observance around 2006.

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INTRO

Introduction

PHOTO

National Laura Day honors a name whose bearers range from a ninth-century Spanish martyr to a modern Academy Award winner. No other given name connects a foundational work of Italian poetry, a defining American children's book series, and a global fashion brand built from a kitchen table.

An estimated 860,000 Americans carry the name today, most of them born during a stretch from the 1960s through the 1980s when Laura held a consistent top 20 ranking. It has since slipped outside the top 300 for newborns, making the name a generational marker as distinctive as the cultural figures who carried it.

ORIGINS

Laura Day history

INTRODUCTION

The name Laura entered the Western naming tradition through the Latin word laurus, meaning laurel. In ancient Rome, laurel wreaths crowned victors in athletic competitions, military campaigns, and poetry contests, linking the plant to achievement and honor. The name itself appeared in English records as early as the thirteenth century.

Laura's earliest prominent bearer in the historical record is Saint Laura of Cordoba, a ninth-century Spanish abbess who led the convent of Santa Maria de Cuteclara for nine years before her martyrdom in 864. Her feast day, October 19, is still observed in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

CHAPTER 01

The Name That Shaped the Sonnet

The name's literary significance crystallized on April 6, 1327, when Italian poet Francesco Petrarch reportedly first saw Laura de Noves in a church in Avignon, France. He spent the rest of his life writing about her, producing 366 poems collected in the Canzoniere. That body of work refined and popularized the sonnet form, which became known as the Petrarchan sonnet and influenced centuries of European poetry.

CHAPTER 02

Lauras Who Built Legacies

Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first book, Little House in the Big Woods, in 1932 at the age of 65. The eight-book series, drawn from her childhood on the American frontier, has sold approximately 60 million copies and been translated into 40 languages. The 1974 television adaptation ran for nine seasons and cemented her name in American popular culture.

In 1953, Welsh designer Laura Ashley began silk-screening floral prints onto fabric from her kitchen table in London. Her romantic, Victorian-inspired designs grew into a global brand with more than 220 shops by the time of her death in 1985.

CHAPTER 03

A Modern American Classic

Laura reached its peak U.S. popularity in 1969, when the Social Security Administration ranked it the tenth most popular girls' name in the country. It held a top 20 position from 1963 to 1986 before gradually declining. National Laura Day marks a name whose cultural footprint spans from medieval saints and Renaissance poetry to pioneer literature, fashion empires, and Hollywood careers.

TIMELINE

National Laura Day Timeline

Saint Laura of Cordoba martyred

The abbess of the convent of Santa Maria de Cuteclara was executed in Cordoba, Spain, becoming one of the Martyrs of Cordoba and later a Catholic and Orthodox saint.

Petrarch first sees Laura de Noves

Italian poet Francesco Petrarch reportedly encountered Laura de Noves in a church in Avignon on April 6, beginning a literary devotion that produced 366 poems.

Wilder publishes first book at 65

Laura Ingalls Wilder released Little House in the Big Woods at age 65, launching a series that would sell approximately 60 million copies worldwide.

Laura Ashley brand begins

Welsh designer Laura Ashley started printing textile designs from her London kitchen table, building what would become a global fashion and home decor brand.

Laura peaks at #10 in the U.S.

The Social Security Administration recorded Laura as the tenth most popular girls' name in the United States, the highest ranking in the name's modern history.

Laura Dern stars in Jurassic Park

Laura Dern's portrayal of paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler in Steven Spielberg's blockbuster became one of the most recognized roles associated with the name.

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate National Laura Day

Visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead

Plan a trip to one of several preserved Wilder sites, including the homestead in Mansfield, Missouri. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum offers tours of the house where she wrote the Little House series.

READ

Read Petrarch's sonnets to Laura

Explore the Canzoniere, particularly Sonnets 1 through 5, which introduce Petrarch's devotion to Laura de Noves. The Encyclopaedia Britannica provides historical context on the collection and its influence on the sonnet form.

WATCH

Watch a Laura Dern film marathon

Stream Jurassic Park, Marriage Story, or Wild to appreciate a career spanning four decades and an Academy Award. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosts her award history and filmography.

RESEARCH

Research the Lauras in your family tree

Use the day to explore genealogy databases for relatives named Laura, Lauren, or Laurel. Tracking how the name moved through your family can reveal generational naming patterns and regional preferences you may not have known about.

TRY

Try a Laura Ashley-inspired craft project

Print or paint floral patterns onto fabric, tote bags, or pillowcases using a simple block-printing technique inspired by Ashley's original kitchen-table method. Her signature style of small-scale florals on natural fabrics is straightforward to replicate with basic supplies.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love National Laura Day

It spans multiple fields of American achievement

Laura Dern won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2020, Laura Bush served as First Lady from 2001 to 2009, and Laura Ingalls Wilder's books remain among the best-selling children's series ever published. The name appears across entertainment, politics, and literature with unusual frequency.

It represents a cross-cultural naming tradition

Laura has maintained popularity across linguistic boundaries for centuries, ranking in the top 10 baby names in nine European countries as recently as 2009. That consistency makes it one of the few names to sustain high usage across both Romance and Germanic language families simultaneously.

It connects to documented artistic and literary influence

Petrarch's Canzoniere, written for a woman named Laura, established the sonnet form that shaped English poetry from Shakespeare to the Romantics. The name is directly attached to one of the most consequential developments in Western literary history.

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