Lawrence

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Лаврентий in RU Russia, KZ Kazakhstan, TR Türkiye and Лаврентій in UA Ukraine.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 11 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◐

Lawrence is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name277K records spelled Lawrence13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Philippines, Colombia

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Laurenty, Làwrence, Láwréñçe, Ľâwrêňčê, Lâwrënçé

• a separate given name142K records spelled Lawrence2 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Law-Rence

• French given name46K records spelled Lawrence43 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Canada

  Languages: French, Chinese, Vietnamese

  Also written Laurent, Lau-Rent, Laureñt, Ľaurent, Laùrent

• Chinese given name24K records spelled Lawrence3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Myanmar (Burma)

  Languages: Chinese, Burmese

  Also written Lawrencę

• Indonesian given name16K records spelled Lawrence3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Malaysia, Philippines

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Lawrençe

• Polish given name11K records spelled Lawrence2 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Laurenty

82 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●

Lawrence 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 English, Lorens, Laurence (L Laurentius ‘man from Laurentum', a Lay see Lee town in Italy probably named from its laurels or bay trees). Layborn see Leyburn I'he name was borne by a saint who was martyred at Rome in the 3rd cent, ad; he enjoyed a considerable cult through¬

  as a name·The Oxford Names Companion - The definitive guide to Surnames, First Names, and Place Names of the British Isles

• Anglicized spelling of Laurence. This is the usual spelling of the surname, and is now becoming increasingly common as a given name, especially in North America. Pet form: Larry.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A male given name from Latin, the usual spelling of Laurence in the U.S.; masculine of Lauren

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

• In English, physicist (Nobel J 939); T(homas)

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In English, E(dward), British adventurer &

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

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●

• Percival Lowellb. 1855USnot in their usual nameAmerican astronomer (1855-1916)
• William Lawrence Braggb. 1890GBAustralian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallographer
• Lawrence Kleinb. 1920USAmerican economist (1920-2013)
• E. L. Doctorowb. 1931USnot in their usual namenovelist, editor, professor (1931-2015)
• Bernard Madoffb. 1938USnot in their usual nameAmerican fraudster and financier (1938–2021)
• Robert Lawrence Stineb. 1943USAmerican novelist (born 1943)
• Larry Ellisonb. 1944USnot in their usual nameAmerican internet entrepreneur and businessman (born 1944)
• David Schwimmerb. 1966USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor (born 1966)
• Lawrence Mark "Larry" Sangerb. 1968USAmerican former professor, co-founder of Wikipedia, founder of Citizendium and other projects (born 1968)
• Robert Sean Leonardb. 1969USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor

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 · 1,131 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Lawrence?

We estimate roughly 258 thousand people bear Lawrence (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does Lawrence have the most bearers?

We estimate about 240 thousand people bear Lawrence in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled lawrence.

Where is Lawrence most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Lawrence is densest in the Netherlands — about 1 in 1.0 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Lawrence compared with other names?

In the United States, Lawrence is the 137th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Lawrence a male or female name?

Lawrence is a male 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 Lawrence mean?

Recorded meaning: from the male personal name Laurence, ultimately from Latin Laurentius, literally ‘person from Laurentum’