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Lawrence: Baby Name of the Day

November 19, 2013 By appellationmountain 8 Comments

Cover of "Lawrence of Arabia (Single Disc...He’s a classic choice for boys, seldom heard in 2013.

Thanks to Colleen for suggesting Lawrence as our Baby Name of the Day.

Just like Phillip overtook Philip, Lawrence has eclipsed Laurence thanks to the surname version of the name.

He’s a cousin to all of the names related to laurel, as in the tree and the symbol of victory, from the Latin word laurus.  The Roman cognomen Laurentius originally referred to someone from Laurentum, an ancient city southwest of Rome, most likely named for the trees.

It caught on thanks, in part, to Saint Laurence.  Born in Spain, he met the future Pope Sixtus II while studying in Zaragoza.  Both eventually went to Rome, where Sixtus became pope and Laurence served as one of his trusted archdeacons.  It was a tough gig.  The emperor Valerian was cracking down on Christianity, and he’d ordered all priests, deacons, and bishops put to death.  On their deaths, their property was forfeited to the emperor.  Sixtus met his end, and Laurence got to work distributing the church’s wealth as broadly as possible.

It’s said that when Laurence was arrested he asked for three days to gather up the wealth of the church.  On the third day, when prompted for the treasure, he instead displayed the poor and sickly as the wealth of the church, and went to his death.

There’s just something gutsy about this name, right?

Laurence has been a popular saint ever since, and his name is in use throughout the Christian world: Lorenzo, Lars, Laurent to name just a few variations.  It was later said that he hid the Holy Grail in those three days, sending it home to Spain for safekeeping.

Two more saints answered to the name: an archbishop of Canterbury from the 600s, and the Irish saint Laurence O’Toole – born Lorcan.

Over time, Lawrence became the more common spelling for the surname, and that influenced the spelling of the given name.  He had a good run in the nineteenth century:

  • David Herbert Lawrence was born to a family of humble means, attended school on scholarship, and became an established poet and novelist.  He also became intensely controversial.  His work was scandalous by early twentieth century standards, and he spent much of life wandering from place to place.  Today, D.H. Lawrence’s works are considered significant achievements in English literature.
  • Theodore “Laurie” Laurence lived next door to the March sisters in Little Women.
  • Then there’s Lawrence of Arabia.  There’s the movie, yes, but before that there was Thomas Edward Lawrence.  An Oxford grad from modest circumstances, he studied history, became an archeologist, and traveled extensively in the Middle East.  When the first World War came, he was already known to local leaders, and was able to use his connections to ensure support for the British.  Lawrence was also a writer, of letters and also his account of the Arab Revolt, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The entire story captured the imagination, and the 1962 biopic was a smash hit, and an Oscar winner for Best Picture.

Other bearers are plentiful, and place names abound – from Lawrence, Kansas to the Saint Laurence River to Sarah Lawrence College.

But how about as a first name?  Lawrence ranked in the US Top 100 from 1880 into the 1970s.  Today he sits at a chilly #453.  Laurence was always less common, but he left rankings entirely in the 1990s.

Could it be his lack of easy nicknames?  Lawrie and Larry are options, but neither feels quite right for 2013.  Then again, does Lawrence really require a nickname?

If you’re after a well-established classic that straddles the adventurous and the scholarly, Lawrence might make for a surprising – and surprisingly dashing – choice.

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Comments

  1. Julie says

    November 20, 2013 at 7:23 PM

    Lawrence is family surname and my dad’s middle name. I have probably considered every variant, including Lawson and Larkin, but it doesn’t matter, because they all sound awful with my surname.

    I know two youngish men named Lawrence, both juniors… one just goes by his full name, but the other goes by “Tate” (because of the actor Larenz Tate.)

    Reply
  2. Madelyn says

    November 20, 2013 at 1:49 PM

    The name Laurens, another variant of Lawrence, appears twice on my family tree!

    Reply
  3. Colleen says

    November 20, 2013 at 7:19 AM

    Thank you for writing about Lawrence. It is such a dignified name. My only concern has been the lack of a nickname (we’re a nickname family because I insist upon. My husband never liked nicknames until he met me), but I do like Stefanie and Mrs. suggestions of Ren and Law. Boys names have been giving us a fit (we’ve agreed on one boys name and we gave it to our son. After then, every option has been a disagreement), so it’s great to have a strong classic name to consider.

    Reply
    • Colleen says

      November 20, 2013 at 7:54 AM

      Ooh, someone on Swistle suggested Lars for Lawrence.

      Reply
      • appellationmountain says

        November 20, 2013 at 10:19 PM

        Oh, I like that idea!

        Reply
  4. The Mrs. says

    November 20, 2013 at 3:27 AM

    We considered this name for one of our sons with the nickname of ‘Law’. In the end, we choose other names, but this is still one of my favorites! Thanks for featuring it!

    Reply
  5. Stefanie says

    November 19, 2013 at 11:48 AM

    If I had been a boy I’d have been Lawrence, and when I was a kid it felt like I had narrowly missed disaster. But I really like it now, maybe thanks to Little Women. I might go for Wren as a nn.

    Reply
    • appellationmountain says

      November 19, 2013 at 12:10 PM

      Very good point about Wren/Ren for Lawrence/Laurence … definitely works for both spellings!

      Reply

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