Lawrance
A masculine name derived from the Latin name Laurentius, meaning "from Laurentum".
Name Census estimates that about 1,597 living Americans carry the first name Lawrance. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lawrance today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lawrance births was 1950 (71 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lawrance. 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 Lawrance with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 214,624 Americans
Peak year
1950
71 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2018 SSA rank
#10,294
Tracked since 1889
Census
Lawrance in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 996 people with the first name Lawrance, which placed it at #12,471 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
#12,471
National first-name rank
People counted
996
996 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lawrance
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lawrance is White at 57.9%. The next largest groups are Black (22.4%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Lawrance 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 Lawrance at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.9% · 577
- Black or African American22.4% · 223
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.1% · 61
- Two or more races5.1% · 51
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 19
Popularity
Lawrance: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lawrance from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 567 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
Lawrance 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 Lawrance during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lawrances live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Michigan, New York recorded the most babies named Lawrance, while Indiana, Florida, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lawrance
The name Lawrance has its origins in the ancient Roman culture, deriving from the Latin name Laurentius. This name traces its roots back to the word "laurus," meaning laurel or bay tree, which held symbolic significance in Roman mythology and culture.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Laurentius was adopted by many believers, with one of the most notable figures being Saint Lawrence, a deacon of the Church in Rome who was martyred during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Valerian in 258 AD. His unwavering faith and courage in the face of torture and execution made him a revered figure in the Christian tradition.
The name Lawrance, with its various spellings such as Lawrence and Laurence, gained widespread popularity throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. It was particularly common among the English, French, and Italian populations. During this time, several notable figures bore this name, including Lawrence of Canterbury (c. 619-619), an Archbishop of Canterbury in the 7th century, and Laurence of Brindisi (1559-1619), a renowned Catholic preacher and theologian.
In the 13th century, Laurence Minot (c. 1300-1352) was an English poet who chronicled the military victories of Edward III during the Hundred Years' War. Another famous bearer of the name was Laurence Sterne (1713-1768), an Irish novelist and Anglican clergyman, best known for his novel "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman."
During the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods, the name Lawrance continued to be popular. Laurence Olivier (1907-1989) was a renowned English actor and director, widely regarded as one of the greatest performers of the 20th century. Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) was an Irish novelist and Anglican clergyman, best known for his novel "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman."
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Lawrance, a name that has endured across centuries and cultures, carrying with it a rich legacy of literary, religious, and cultural significance.
People
Lawrance + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lawrance 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
Lawrance: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lawrance?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,597 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lawrance 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 214,624 US residents.
Is Lawrance a common name?
We classify Lawrance as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,637 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lawrance most popular?
The single biggest year for Lawrance was 1950, when 71 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lawrance is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lawrance in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 996 people with the name Lawrance, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,471 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 Lawrance 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 Lawrance?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lawrance leans strongly male. 989 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 11 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Lawrance?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lawrance is White at 57.9%. The next largest groups are Black (22.4%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Lawrance most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lawrance in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.9% (577 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 Lawrance in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lawrance a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lawrance 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 Lawrance still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lawrance 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 Lawrance 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 the name Lawrance?
Find out how many people have the name Lawrance on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.