Lawernce
Lawernce is a masculine given name of English origin, meaning "the man from Laurentum".
Name Census estimates that about 510 living Americans carry the first name Lawernce. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lawernce today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lawernce births was 1956 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lawernce. 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 Lawernce is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lawernces were born before 1966.
People living today
510
~ 1 in 672,067 Americans
Peak year
1956
35 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1989 SSA rank
#8,681
Tracked since 1912
Popularity
Lawernce: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lawernce from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 244 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lawernce 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 Lawernce during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lawernces live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Michigan, California, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Lawernce, while Louisiana, California, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lawernce
The name Lawernce is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which in turn originated from the Roman family name Laurentius. This family name was derived from the Latin word "laurus," meaning "laurel." The laurel was a plant associated with victory, honor, and success in ancient Roman culture.
In its earliest form, Laurentius was a Roman cognomen or family name. The name gained popularity as a personal name during the early Christian era when it was borne by several early Christian saints and martyrs, including St. Laurence, a 3rd-century deacon and martyr.
The name Lawernce can be traced back to the 3rd century, when St. Laurence was martyred during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Valerian in 258 AD. According to legend, St. Laurence was burned alive on a gridiron, and his courageous death is said to have inspired many conversions to Christianity.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Lawernce remained popular among Christians, particularly in Europe. In England, it was occasionally spelled as "Laurence" or "Lawrence." Some notable historical figures with this name include Laurence of Canterbury, an English monk and writer who lived in the 7th century, and Laurence Nowell, an English antiquarian and scholar who lived in the 16th century.
During the Renaissance, the name Lawernce gained further popularity, with several notable individuals bearing the name. One of the most famous was Laurence Sterne, an Irish novelist and Anglican clergyman, born in 1713 and best known for his novel "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman."
In the 19th century, Lawernce remained a popular name, with several notable figures including Laurence Oliphant, a British author, traveler, and diplomat born in 1829, and Laurence Housman, an English novelist, playwright, and poet born in 1865.
Other famous individuals named Lawernce throughout history include Laurence Binyon, an English poet and scholar born in 1869, Laurence Olivier, a renowned English actor and director born in 1907, and Laurence Ferlinghetti, an American poet and artist born in 1919.
People
Lawernce + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lawernce 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
Lawernce: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lawernce?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 510 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lawernce 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 672,067 US residents.
Is Lawernce a common name?
We classify Lawernce as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,050 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lawernce most popular?
The single biggest year for Lawernce was 1956, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lawernce is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lawernce a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lawernce 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.
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.