Laurence is in modern use as an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

masculine and a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

feminine

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

. The modern English masculine name is a variant of

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

and originates from a French form of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man from

Laurentum Laurentum was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman city of Latium situated between Ostia Antica, Ostia and Lavinium, on the west coast of the Italian Peninsula southwest of Rome. Roman writers regarded it as the original capital of Italy, before Lavin ...

". The French feminine name Laurence is derived from the same source and is used in French-speaking countries as a form of the masculine ''

Laurent Laurent may refer to: *Laurent (name), a French masculine given name and a surname **Saint Laurence (aka: Saint ''Laurent''), the martyr Laurent **Pierre Alphonse Laurent, mathematician **Joseph Jean Pierre Laurent, amateur astronomer, discoverer ...

''. The name was used in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

for both males and females in honor of

Saint Laurence Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman emperor Valerian ordered in 258. ...

, one of the seven deacons of Rome. In England, it was also given in reference to Saint Laurence of Canterbury. In other languages: Lorenzo (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

), Lorenz (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

). In Ireland, Laurence has traditionally been used as an

Anglicization Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English languag ...

of the Irish masculine name Lorcan or Lorcán.

Usage

Laurence, used as a spelling variant of the more popular Lawrence, was in regular use for boys in the

Anglosphere The Anglosphere, also known as the Anglo-American world, is a Western-led sphere of influence among the Anglophone countries. The core group of this sphere of influence comprises five developed countries that maintain close social, cultura ...

since the medieval era. It was most popular for boys in English-speaking countries during the late 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century. As a feminine name, Laurence was at the height of popularity in France between 1965 and 1971, when it was among the top 10 names for French girls. It was among the top 100 names for French girls between 1953 and 1984. In French-speaking

Quebec, Canada Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

, Laurence has been among the top 100 names for French Canadian girls between 1984 and 2023, and was among the top 10 names for girls between 2002 and 2005 and again in 2008. The name has been in rare, occasional use for girls in English-speaking countries, where Laurence remains a primarily masculine name. Twelve American newborn girls were given the name Laurence in 1961, the year that 16-year-old American Olympic figure skater

Laurence Owen Laurence Rochon "Laurie" Owen (; May 9, 1944 – February 15, 1961) was an American figure skater. She was the 1961 U.S. National Champion and represented the United States at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where she placed sixth. She was the ...

died with the entire United States figure skating team in the crash of

Sabena Flight 548 Sabena Flight 548 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Idlewild Airport in New York City to Brussels Airport in Belgium. On 15 February 1961, the Boeing 707-329 operating the flight crashed on approach to Brussels Airport, kill ...

in Belgium. No more than four newborn American girls were named Laurence in either 1960 or 1962. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/limits.html Laurence Owen was named in honor of her Canadian paternal grandmother.

Given name

Men

Laurence Burt Laurence Burt (12 March 1925 – 26 April 2015) was a British sculptor and educator who taught at various art colleges across the UK from the late 1950s. Trained as an industrial metalworker, his skills and knowledge of materials strongly influenc ...

(1925–2015), British sculptor and educator * Laurence Neil Creme, known professionally as

Lol Creme Laurence Neil "Lol" Creme ( ; born 19 September 1947) is an English musician and music video director, best known for his work in 10cc. He was later one half of the duo Godley & Creme, with 10cc drummer Kevin Godley. Creme has collaborated with ...

, British musician *

Laurence Ilsley Duncan Laurence Ilsley Duncan (October 5, 1906 – December 18, 1982)Judge L. Duncan
, ''West Leba ...

(1906–1982), justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court *

Laurence Ekperigin Laurence Ekperigin (born February 21, 1988) is a British-American professional basketball player who currently plays for JA Vichy-Clermont Métropole Basket in France's LNB Pro B league. He played college basketball at Le Moyne before playing p ...

(born 1988), British-American basketball player in the Israeli National League *

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has gained recognition for his roles on stage and screen as militant and authoritative characters. List of awards and nominations received by Laur ...

(born 1961), American actor *

Laurence Fox Laurence Paul Fox (born 26 May 1978) is an English actor and right-wing political activist. A member of the British entertainment industry's Fox family, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and debuted in the film '' The Hole'' ...

(born 1978), British actor * Laurence S. Geller, British-born, US-based real estate investor. *

Laurence Ginnell Laurence Ginnell (baptised 9 April 1852 – 17 April 1923) was an Irish nationalist politician, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as member of the Irish Parliamentary ...

, Irish politician *

Laurence Godfrey (archer) Laurence Paul Godfrey (born 9 June 1976, in Bristol) is a British archer. He studied for an HND in Mechanical Manufacturing at the University of the West of England from 1997 to 2000. 2004 Summer Olympics Godfrey was the only British male t ...

, British athlete *

Laurence Godfrey (physics lecturer) Dr. Laurence Godfrey (born 21 November 1952) was educated at the independent The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, at Westfield College, University of London (Bachelor of Science, BSc Physics, first class honours, 1975) and at University Colleg ...

, regular and controversial contributor to the

Usenet Usenet (), a portmanteau of User's Network, is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose UUCP, Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Elli ...

newsgroups 'soc.culture.British' and 'soc.culture.Canada' * Laurence Golborne, Chilean mining and energy minister *

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to Union of South Africa, South Africa at an early age, before ...

, Lithuanian-born actor *

Laurence Keitt Laurence Massillon Keitt (October 4, 1824 – June 2, 1864) was an American Planter (American South), planter, lawyer, politician, and soldier from South Carolina. During his tenure in the United States House of Representatives, he was included ...

, Confederate general * Laurence "Laurie" Lee (1914–1997), British poet and novelist *

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen Laurence Roderick Llewelyn-Bowen (born 11 March 1965) is an English interior designer and television personality best known for appearing on the BBC programme '' Changing Rooms''. Name He is sometimes credited as "Laurence Llewelyn", and the ...

, British television presenter and designer * Laurence McKeown, Provisional Irish Republican Army member * Laurence Myers (1858–99), American world-record-setting runner *

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

(1907–1989), British actor and director *

Laurence Platt Laurence is in modern use as an English masculine and a French feminine given name. The modern English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man from Laurentum". ...

(born 1950), American writer * Laurence "Larry" Rickard (born 1975), British actor, writer and comedian; one half of the duo ' Larry & George' and one sixth of the comedy troupe

Them There Them There is a theatrical production collective made up of a group of comedy writers and performers, notable for working on a range of projects together including the first five series of ''Horrible Histories'', '' Yonderland'', and ''Ghosts''. ...

Laurence J. Rittenband Laurence James Rittenband (December 5, 1905 – December 30, 1993) was an American judge. He was a judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California. Background The son of a New York City clothing manufacturer, he graduated at the ...

(1905–1993), American judge * Laurence Sullivan, British writer * Laurence Andrew Tolhurst, known professionally as

Lol Tolhurst Laurence Andrew Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, producer, and author. He was a founding member of the Cure, for which he first played drums before switching to keyboards. He stayed a member of the Cure until ...

, British musician *

Laurence Tribe Laurence Henry Tribe (born October 10, 1941) is an American legal scholar known for his studies of United States constitutional law. Tribe was a professor at Harvard Law School from 1968 until his retirement in 2020. He currently holds the posit ...

, American professor of constitutional law * Laurence Tureaud (born 1952), known professionally as

Mr. T Laurence T (born Laurence Tureaud; May 21, 1952), known professionally as Mr. T, is an American actor and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A ...

, American actor and wrestler * St Laurence O'Toole, or

Lorcán Ua Tuathail Lorcán Ua Tuathail, known in English as Laurence O'Toole and in French as Laurent d'Eu (1128 – 14 November 1180), was Archbishop of Dublin (Catholic Church), Archbishop of Dublin at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland. Lorcán playe ...

, Irish Roman Catholic Saint *

Laurence of Canterbury Laurence (died 2 February 619) was the second Archbishop of Canterbury, serving from about 604 to 619. He was a member of the Gregorian mission sent from Italy to England to Christianise the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganis ...

, the second

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

* Laurence Wachowski (born 1965), known as Lana Wachowski since the 2000s, American film director

Women

Laurence Broze Laurence Broze (born 1960) is a Belgian applied mathematician specializing in statistics and econometrics and particularly in the theory of rational expectations. She is a professor of applied mathematics at the University of Lille in France. From ...

(born 1960), Belgian applied mathematician, statistician, and economist *

Laurence des Cars Laurence des Cars (born Laurence Élisabeth de Pérusse des Cars on 13 June 1966) is a French museum curator and art historian. Since September 2021, she has served as director of the Louvre Museum, having previously headed the Musée d'Orsay an ...

(born 1966), French curator and art historian *

Laurence Equilbey Laurence Equilbey (born 6 March 1962) is a French conductor, known for her work in the choral repertoire, and more recently as the founder and music director of the Insula Orchestra. She also founded the chamber choir Accentus in 1991, and has ...

(born 1962), French conductor *

Laurence Fournier Beaudry Laurence Fournier Beaudry (born July 18, 1992) is a Canadian ice dancer who currently represents France with partner Guillaume Cizeron. Formerly competing for Canada and earlier for Denmark with her former skating partner Nikolaj Sørensen, s ...

(born 1992), Canadian ice dancer * Laurence Gayte (born 1965), French politician *

Laurence Leboeuf Laurence Charlotte Leboeuf (born December 13, 1985) is a Canadian actress. Biography Leboeuf was born on December 13, 1985, in Montreal, Quebec, the daughter of actors Marcel Leboeuf and Diane Lavallée. She went to École Notre-Dame-de-Grâce ...

(born 1985), Canadian actress *

(1944-1961), American Olympic figure skater *

Laurence Rochat Laurence Rochat (born 1 August 1979) is a Swiss cross-country skier who has competed since 1996. She won a bronze medal in the 4 × 5 km relay at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and had her best individual finish with a 15th place ...

(born 1979), Swiss cross-country skier who has competed since 1996 * Laurence Sailliet (born 1973), French politician *

Laurence Tubiana Émilie Laurence Tubiana (; born 5 July 1951) is a French economist, professor and diplomat. She served as France's Climate Change Ambassador and Special Representative for the 2015 COP21 Climate Change Conference in Paris, for which she became ...

(born 1951), French Ambassador responsible for COP21 *

Laurence Vichnievsky Laurence Vichnievsky (born 5 February 1955 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French magistrate and politician who has been serving as a member of the French National Assembly since the 2017 elections. She is a member of the Democratic M ...

(born 1955), French politician and magistrate

Surname

Ashley Laurence Ashley Laurence is an American actress and visual artist. She made her film debut in 1987 as the lead character, Kirsty (Hellraiser), Kirsty Cotton, in Clive Barker's horror film ''Hellraiser'' (1987), a role she later reprised in ''Hellbound: He ...

(born 1966), American actress and visual artist * Christopher Laurence (1929-2025), British Anglican priest *

Duncan Laurence Duncan de Moor (; born 11 April 1994), known professionally as Duncan Laurence, is a Dutch singer and songwriter. He represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with his song " Arcade" and went on to win the competition, g ...

(born 1994), Dutch singer, representing Netherlands in Eurovision Song Contest 2019 *

Elizabeth Laurence Elizabeth Laurence (born Elizabeth Jane Scott, 22 November 1949, Harrogate, England) is a classical mezzo-soprano singer. She is best known for her performances of 20th century operatic repertoire, and has created several operatic roles. Biog ...

(born 1949), English classical mezzo-soprano singer * Frederic Laurence (1896-1982), British air ace *

Frederick Laurence Frederick Laurence (until 1919 Frederick Kessler, 25 May 1884 - 3 May 1942) was a British composer, early film music pioneer and latterly an orchestral manager and administrator. He changed his name mid-career by deed poll in 1919 to avoid the an ...

(1884-1942), British composer and orchestral manager *

French Laurence French Laurence (3 April 1757 – 27 February 1809) was an English jurist and man of letters, a close associate of Edmund Burke whose literary executor he became. Life He was the eldest son of Richard Laurence, watchmaker, of Bath, Somerset by ...

(17571809), English lawyer and politician, brother of Richard * Henry Laurence, multiple people * Jacqueline Laurence (19322024), French-born Brazilian actress and theatre director * John Zachariah Laurence (182970), English ophthalmologist *

Margaret Laurence Jean Margaret Laurence (née Wemyss; July 18, 1926 – January 5, 1987) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-pr ...

(1926-1987), Canadian novelist and short story writer *

Oona Laurence Oona Laurence (born August 1, 2002) is an American actress. She is best known for the role of Matilda Wormwood in ''Matilda'' on Broadway alongside Bailey Ryon, Milly Shapiro, and Sophia Gennusa. She began her career as a New York City-based c ...

(born 2002), American actress *

Richard Laurence Richard Laurence (13 May 1760 – 28 December 1838) was an English Hebraist and Anglican churchman. He was made Regius Professor of Hebrew and canon of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1814, and Archbishop of Cashel, Ireland, in 1822. Laurence, younge ...

(17601838), English Hebraist and Anglican churchman, brother of French *

Samuel Laurence Samuel Laurence (also spelled Lawrence; 1812–28 February 1884) was a British portrait painter. Life He was born at Guildford, Surrey, in 1812, and early manifested a great love for art. The first portraits which he exhibited were at the Socie ...

(181284), British portrait painter *

Stephen Laurence Stephen Laurence is a scientist and philosopher, currently Professor at the University of Sheffield, whose primary areas of research interest are the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of language, and cognitive science. He is Director of the ...

(born before 1998), American philosopher *

Timothy Laurence Vice Admiral Sir Timothy James Hamilton Laurence (born 1 March 1955) is a British retired Royal Navy officer and husband of Anne, Princess Royal, the only sister of King Charles III. Laurence was equerry to Queen Elizabeth II from 1986 to 1989. H ...

(born 1955) retired British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer and second husband of

Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...

* William L. Laurence (18881977), Lithuanian-American science journalist for The New York Times (193064)

References

{{given name, type=both English-language masculine given names English masculine given names Masculine given names French masculine given names English feminine given names French feminine given names Feminine given names Surnames from given names

Usage

Given name

Men

Women

Surname

See also

References