Lori is a short form of Lorraine and Laura; Laura comes from the Latin laurus and means "laurel", the tree whose leaves crowned victors in ancient Rome. The nickname became a hugely popular stand-alone name in the 1960s, when it was in the US top 20. Lori ranked number 865 in 2000, has since slipped out of the top 1000 and has stayed around number 1400 to 1700 for a decade, standing at number 1726 in 2025.