Laura or Martha?

[Sell123]

As the title suggests. Which would you use?

Love them both! Honestly I would find it very hard to choose but Martha would just edge it for me.

Just be warned that there’s a regular poster who pops up on every Martha thread to declare her a Biblical drudge. Someone pointed it out a year or two ago and after that you notice it everywhere. I happen to think Martha’s story is quite cool, as one of very few named, speaking women in the Bible. I learnt from this board that there is also an excellent legend about St Martha slaying a dragon in France.

On the other hand I do like the Petrarchan literary heritage of Laura. Tough choice!

Both are nice, but I prefer Martha.

Laura. It’s unusual these days. I know lots of Marthas.

I really don't like the name Martha but Laura is nice

I have a lovely Martha. We get lots of compliments on her name. It had a short burst of popularity but has never been higher than #60ish. We only know one other and we know a lot of children!

I have a bingo card for these threads for the ‘dowdy’, ‘frumpy’, ‘scullery maid’ comments (not to mention the ubiquitous ‘biblical drudge’, thanks @ZoyaTheDestroyer ) but tbh I secretly quite like these as they are my guarantee that it will never be the next Olivia!

Martha

I’ve only ever known really wonderful Lauras.

Id pick that, Martha I’d probably too popular.

Laura was very big in the 80s and 90s, so although lovely it will mean sharing her name with lots of her friends’ mums.

Yes all Lauras I know are just fab people 😊

Dont see the problem here to be honest

Not necessarily a problem, just a relevant piece of information that might be of use to the OP.

Martha for sure

Both are lovely, but Martha just about wins for me, probably because I'm a big Martha Wainwright fan!

Really? Lauren was popular then but the Lauras I know were born in the ‘60s.

Laura! Due for a revival.

Martha is hideous. Sounds so snivelly.

^this. Such an ugly name.
So Laura

Laura :)

Yep! Entered the top 100 in the 60s, gradually climbed to a peak of #1 in the early 80s, remained top 20 up to the turn of the century.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/babynamessince1904howhasyoursperformed/2016-09-02

Martha is a lovely name.

Laura to me feels a bit 80s, went to school with lots of them.

Laura, by a long way.

Martha ❤️

I'm a Laura, and yes, I was born in the 80s.

I like my name, it's strong. Martha is nice too, but a bit more feminine and flowery sounding.

Thanks everyone. I'm favouring Laura at the moment

Laura

Hi @Sell123
Laura is a lovely name