Laurier
Laurier is a French masculine name meaning "laurel tree".
Name Census estimates that about 70 living Americans carry the first name Laurier. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Laurier today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Laurier births was 1917 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Laurier. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Laurier is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lauriers were born before 1956.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Laurier. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
70
~ 1 in 4,896,491 Americans
Peak year
1917
17 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1959 SSA rank
#4,313
Tracked since 1912
Census
Laurier in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 184 people with the first name Laurier, which placed it at #40,443 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
#40,443
National first-name rank
People counted
184
184 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
93.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Laurier
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laurier is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Black (2.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.1%). 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 Laurier 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 Laurier at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.5% · 172
- Black or African American2.7% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 2
- Two or more races1.1% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 1
Popularity
Laurier: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Laurier from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 119 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Laurier remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Laurier 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 Laurier during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lauriers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Laurier
The name Laurier is derived from the French word "laurier," which means "laurel." The laurel is an evergreen shrub or tree that has been a symbol of victory and honor since ancient times in many cultures, including Greek and Roman civilizations.
This name likely originated in France or French-speaking regions during the Middle Ages or Renaissance period. It was likely inspired by the laurel plant's symbolic association with triumph, achievement, and praise.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Laurier can be found in the 14th-century French epic poem "Roman de la Rose," where a character named Laurier is mentioned. This suggests the name was already in use as a given name by that time.
In the 16th century, the French poet and humanist Pierre de Ronsard wrote a poem titled "Ode à Laurier," celebrating the laurel tree and its significance. This further solidified the name's connection to literary and artistic circles.
A notable historical figure with the name Laurier is Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919), who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. He was a champion of Canadian nationalism and played a vital role in the country's development.
Another famous bearer of the name was the French architect and urban planner Jacques-Germain Soufflot (1713-1780), who designed the iconic Panthéon in Paris and influenced the neoclassical architectural style.
In the realm of literature, Laurier Lauze (1867-1953) was a French poet and author known for his works celebrating the beauty of nature and the Provençal countryside.
Laurier Lacombe (1913-1990) was a renowned Canadian artist and sculptor, known for his abstract and modernist works that often incorporated elements of nature and mythology.
The name Laurier also has a connection to the world of sports, with Laurier Lacroix (1885-1949) being a famous Canadian ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens in the early 20th century.
These examples illustrate the diverse fields and eras in which individuals named Laurier have made their mark, reflecting the name's enduring association with achievement, artistry, and excellence.
People
Laurier + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Laurier 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
Laurier: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Laurier?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 70 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Laurier 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 4,896,491 US residents.
Is Laurier a common name?
We classify Laurier as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 353 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Laurier most popular?
The single biggest year for Laurier was 1917, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Laurier is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Laurier in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 184 people with the name Laurier, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,443 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 Laurier 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 Laurier?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Laurier leans strongly male. 167 people counted with this name were male (92.8%), compared with 13 female bearers (7.2%). 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 Laurier?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laurier is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Black (2.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.1%). 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 Laurier most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Laurier in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (172 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 Laurier in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Laurier a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Laurier 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 Laurier still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Laurier 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 Laurier 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 many people have Laurier as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.