Laurence

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 13 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Laurence is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name499K records spelled Laurence17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada

  Languages: English, Western Frisian, Danish

  Also written Laurènce, Laurénce, Làurence, Ĺaurence, Läürënçë

• Portuguese given name15K records spelled Laurence3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, United Kingdom, Philippines

  Also written Láurence, Laűrénce

92 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Laurence is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Irish, Latin name meaning “of Laurentum”; used for St Lorcan (Laurence) O'Toole.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, from the female personal name Laurence, a feminine equivalent of Lawrence.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In French, a female given name, masculine equivalent Laurent, equivalent to English Lauren

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, A male given name from Latin, feminine equivalent Lauren.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, du latin Laurentius, « de Laurentum »; lié au laurier. Fête: 10 août, saint Laurent.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Laurence Sterneb. 1713IEAnglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric (1713–1768)
• Henry Ganttb. 1861USnot in their usual nameAmerican engineer (1861-1919)
• Laurence Olivierb. 1907GBEnglish actor and director (1907–1989)
• Laurence Harveyb. 1928LTLithuanian-born British actor (1928-1973)
• Bob Barrb. 1948USnot in their usual nameAmerican attorney and politician (born 1948)
• Larry Finkb. 1952USnot in their usual nameAmerican Billionaire Business Person and Board Member, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock
• Laurence Fishburneb. 1961USAmerican actor
• Laurence Foxb. 1978GBBritish actor
• Iris Mittenaereb. 1993FRnot in their usual nameFrench beauty pageant winner (born 1993)
• Countess Eloise of Orange-Nassaub. 2002NLnot in their usual nameDutch noble

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,220 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Laurence?

We estimate roughly 23 thousand people bear Laurence (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Laurence have the most bearers?

Laurence is most frequently recorded in France, where it is most often spelled laurence.

How common is Laurence compared with other names?

In France, Laurence is the 86th most common given name of 711,207 given names recorded there.

Is Laurence a male or female name?

Laurence is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Laurence mean?

Recorded meaning: French feminine form of Laurence/Lawrence, from Latin Laurentius, 'from Laurentum'.