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Lawrence

OriginLatin
Meaning"from Laurentium or bay laurel"

About Lawrence

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.

Pronounced LOR-ens.

As of October 2026, Lawrence ranked #520 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #30 in 1942, Nameberry popularity #200.

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

World rankings

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Lawrence on lists

Famous Lawrences

  • 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

Variations & nicknames

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Lawrence in blog posts

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