Lawrie last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Lawrie is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Lawrie.

Meaning of Lawrie

A surname derived from the given name Laurence.

Lawrie, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Lawrie surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lawrie in America

Lawrie is the 19527th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lawrie surname appeared 1,383 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Lawrie.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lawrie to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 19527 20006 -2.42%
Count 1,383 1,241 10.82%
Proportion per 100k 0.47 0.46 2.15%

The history of the last name Lawrie

The surname Lawrie has its roots in Scotland, originating from the Lowlands region during the Middle Ages. It is a variant spelling of the name Laurie, derived from the Latin name Laurus, meaning "laurel tree." The name may have been given to someone who lived near a laurel grove or worked with laurel wood.

In the 13th century, the name appeared in various records and charters as Lauri, Lauerie, and Lawre. One of the earliest recorded instances was in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, where Richard Lauri from Berwickshire swore fealty to King Edward I of England.

The Lawrie name is also associated with several notable figures throughout history. Sir Robert Lawrie (1533-1595) was a Scottish merchant and diplomat who served as a Lord of Session in the Court of Session. In the 17th century, John Lawrie (1673-1737) was a prominent Presbyterian minister and theologian in Scotland.

Another significant bearer of the name was Sir Walter Lawrie (1795-1859), a Scottish colonial administrator who served as the Governor of British Guiana (now Guyana) from 1838 to 1849. In the literary world, Rev. John Lawrie (1793-1859) was a Scottish writer and editor who published several works on Scottish history and poetry.

The Lawrie surname is also linked to various place names in Scotland, such as Lawrieston in Kincardineshire and Laurieston in Stirlingshire. These place names likely originated from individuals with the Lawrie surname who owned or lived in those areas.

Among other notable individuals with the surname Lawrie are Alexander Lawrie (1828-1917), a Scottish-Canadian businessman and politician who served as a member of the Canadian House of Commons, and William Lawrie (1830-1904), a Scottish-Australian politician and businessman who became a member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lawrie

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Lawrie.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Lawrie was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 85.03% 1,176
Non-Hispanic Black Only 8.03% 111
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.72% 10
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.43% 6
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.02% 28
Hispanic Origin 3.76% 52

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Lawrie has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 85.03% 87.43% -2.78%
Black 8.03% 7.82% 2.65%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.72% 0.89% -21.12%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.43% 0.48% -10.99%
Two or More Races 2.02% 2.10% -3.88%
Hispanic 3.76% 1.29% 97.82%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Lawrie was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Lawrie, please contact us.

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"Lawrie last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/lawrie-surname-popularity/.

"Lawrie last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/lawrie-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Lawrie last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/lawrie-surname-popularity/.

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