Larenz
Variant of Lawrence, from the Latin Laurentius meaning "from Laurentum".
Name Census estimates that about 529 living Americans carry the first name Larenz. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Larenz today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Larenz births was 1998 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Larenz. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Larenz with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
529
~ 1 in 647,929 Americans
Peak year
1998
40 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,045
Tracked since 1994
Census
Larenz in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 397 people with the first name Larenz, which placed it at #24,319 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#24,319
National first-name rank
People counted
397
397 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
73.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Larenz
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Larenz is Black at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.6%) and Hispanic (8.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Larenz described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Larenz at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American73.0% · 290
- Two or more races10.6% · 42
- Hispanic or Latino8.8% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 9
- White2.0% · 8
Popularity
Larenz: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Larenz from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 184 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Larenz by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Larenz during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Larenz' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Michigan, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Larenz, while New York, Louisiana, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Larenz
The name Larenz is believed to have its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, with roots that can be traced back to the 6th century CE. It is derived from the Germanic word "laudr," which means "fame" or "renown," combined with the suffix "-enz," which signifies "belonging to" or "descending from."
During the Middle Ages, variations of the name, such as Laurentius and Lorentz, were commonly used in various regions of Europe, including Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. These names were often associated with the Christian martyr Saint Lawrence, whose name in Latin was Laurentius.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Larenz can be found in the Codex Augiensis, a 9th-century manuscript containing a collection of religious texts and historical records from the Abbey of Reichenau in present-day Germany. The name appears in several entries, suggesting its use among the local population at that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Larenz. One such person was Larenz Fries (1490-1550), a German theologian and reformer who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation. Another was Larenz Grimmer (1638-1708), a German-Dutch architect and urban planner who designed many notable buildings in Amsterdam.
In the 19th century, Larenz Tønder (1827-1901) was a Norwegian businessman and ship owner who made significant contributions to the development of the shipping industry in his country. Around the same time, Larenz Johnson (1848-1921) was an American politician who served as the 14th Governor of Minnesota.
More recently, Larenz Tate (born 1975) is an American actor known for his roles in films such as "Menace II Society" and "Love Jones." He has received critical acclaim for his performances and continues to work in the entertainment industry.
These examples showcase the rich history and diverse cultural backgrounds associated with the name Larenz, which has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, including religious figures, architects, businessmen, politicians, and artists.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Larenz
People
Larenz + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Larenz as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Larenz: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Larenz?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 529 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Larenz going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 647,929 US residents.
Is Larenz a common name?
We classify Larenz as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 536 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Larenz most popular?
The single biggest year for Larenz was 1998, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Larenz is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Larenz in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 397 people with the name Larenz, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,319 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Larenz in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Larenz?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Larenz leans strongly male. 391 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 7 female bearers (1.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Larenz?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Larenz is Black at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.6%) and Hispanic (8.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Larenz most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Larenz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.0% (290 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Larenz in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Larenz a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Larenz in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Larenz still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Larenz in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Larenz can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Larenz?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.