Lawrence

Latin
"from Laurentium or bay laurel"

Lawrence Origin and Meaning

The name Lawrence is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "from Laurentium or bay laurel".

Lawrence has survived from Roman times, when Laurentium was a city noted for its laurel trees (the laurel is a symbol of wisdom and achievement). It was in the Top 50 from the 1890s through the 1950s and the Top 100 for decades longer, always among the most popular boys' names starting with L, but Lawrence is now used less for babies than Landon or Lorenzo.

Nickname Lauro perks it up while Larry feels terminally dated. Loren and Laurie make it more unisex. The Laurence spelling was popularized by Sir Laurence Olivier and is also attached to fellow actor Laurence Fishburne.

# 559 in the US

Lawrence Rank in US Top 1000

# 287 on Nameberry

Lawrence Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Lawrence Popularity

Famous People Named Lawrence

  • Lawrence O'Donnell
    MSNBC news anchor
  • Saint Lawrence of Rome
    ancient martyr
  • Lawrence Taylor
    American football player
  • Lawrence Tynes
    American football player
  • Lawrence Joel
    American war hero
  • Lawrence Gray
    American actor
  • Lawrence Welk
    American entertainer and band leader
  • Lawrence Maxwell Krauss
    Canadian,American theoretical physicist and cosmologist
  • Lawrence Lessig
    American academic and political activist
  • Thomas Edward Lawrence aka Lawrence of Arabia
    British colonel
  • David Herbert "D.H." Lawrence
    English novelist
  • Lawrence Henry "Larry" Summers
    former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
  • Lawrence George Durrell
    British novelist
  • Lawrence (Hayward)
    English musician of bands Felt, Denim and Go Kart Mozart
  • Lawrence Edward Kasdan
    American screenwriter and producer
  • William Lawrence Bragg
    British,Australian physicist and Nobel Prize winner

Lawrence in Pop Culture

  • Lawrence "Larry" Daley
    character in Night at the "Museum"
  • Lawrence Fletcher
    father on animated series "Phineas and Ferb"
  • Lawrence Selden
    character in Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth
  • Lawrence Anthony "Larry" Beale
    from TV series "Even Stevens"
  • Lawrence "Moe" Curls
    character from game series 'Ace Attorney'
  • Lawrence Poirier
    character in comic strip "For Better or for Worse"
  • Lawrence Gordon
    character in Saw movie franchise
  • Nicknames: Larry
    Lary, Law, Lawry