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Hey. When I look up my name on various sites, they all say that it's 'Latin.' However, when I look up on Ancestry, it says that 'Laura' is Italian, Spanish, English. I'm a little confused. Is Laura really an English or Italian name? I mean, Latin was the official language the Romans used like hundreds of years ago, which nowadays is Italian. But then again, I'm not really sure. Can anyone clarify this? Thanks.
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The Romans themselves, in their early days anyway, had very strict rules about naming each other. And they would never have used Laura as a name - they didn't choose names for their daughters the way we do, they used family names. Their word for a laurel tree (the ones that the wreaths were made of) was Laurus, and Laura makes it look more girly to our eyes, though the Romans saw Laurus as feminine.
So, your name started off as a Latin word, and became used as a name in Italian (Petrarch's beloved), Spanish, English etc. Now we can say it's used in European languages, not just the ones descended from Latin. It depends on whether people are thinking about its origin, or its usage today.
So, your name started off as a Latin word, and became used as a name in Italian (Petrarch's beloved), Spanish, English etc. Now we can say it's used in European languages, not just the ones descended from Latin. It depends on whether people are thinking about its origin, or its usage today.
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But... Latin is no longer existent tho? I mean, how can a name still be Latin if Latin isn't even used anymore?
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Hi Laura,
I think you're confusing 'origin' with 'usage'.
The name Laura originated in Roman times, based on the Latin word Laurus. However, although Latin is no longer used as a native language (it is still used for a variety of other purposes), the name has been passed down through the centuries and is now used in a wide variety of languages.
According to BtN's database, Laura is used in: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Polish, Slovene, Scandinavian, German and Dutch. And variations of it are used in a lot more languages than that.
So, Laura is a Latin name in origin, but is used in a wide variety of modern languages.
I think you're confusing 'origin' with 'usage'.
The name Laura originated in Roman times, based on the Latin word Laurus. However, although Latin is no longer used as a native language (it is still used for a variety of other purposes), the name has been passed down through the centuries and is now used in a wide variety of languages.
According to BtN's database, Laura is used in: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Polish, Slovene, Scandinavian, German and Dutch. And variations of it are used in a lot more languages than that.
So, Laura is a Latin name in origin, but is used in a wide variety of modern languages.
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Wow. Yeah you know what, I was confusing the two. Thanks so much everyone, for better explaining this to me, now I get it. :)
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