Lawrence is a masculine given name. It is an Anglicisation of the French Laurent,[1] which is in turn derived from the Latin Laurentius or Old Greek Lavrenti.[2] Pet forms of Lawrence include Larry, Lawrie and, less commonly, Law.[1]
People
Arts and entertainment
- Lawrence Brownlee (born 1972), American opera singer
- Lawrence Cheng (born 1954), Hong Kong film actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and master of ceremonies
- Lawrence Chou (born 1979), Hong Kong-Canadian singer and actor
- Lawrence David (born 1947), American comedian, actor, writer, and television producer
- Lawrence Gray (1898–1970), American actor
- Lawrence (musician) (born 1961), English singer, songwriter and guitarist Lawrence Hayward
- Lawrence Simon (1933–1994), better known by the ring name Boris Malenko, American professional wrestler
- Lawrence Ng, Hong Kong actor
- Lawrence Raghavendra, South Indian film actor
- Lawrence Saint (1885–1961), American stained glass artist
- Lawrence Weingarten (1897–1975), American film producer
- Lawrence Welk (1903–1992), American band leader, accordion player, and television host
- Lawrence Wong Guan Yi (born 1988), Singaporean actor
Business
- Lawrence Bossidy, former chairman of Honeywell, former CEO and chairman of AlliedSignal
- Lawrence Ellison (born 1944), American businessman and entrepreneur, co-founded Oracle Corporation
- Lawrence Ho (born 1977), Chinese-Canadian businessman
- Lawrence Hunt, British internet entrepreneur and CEO of Silverjet
- Lawrence E. Page (born 1973), American co-founder of Google Inc.
- Lawrence Stroll (born 1959), Canadian businessman, part-owner of Racing Point F1 Team
- Lawrence Wackett (1896–1982), airplane designer, entrepreneur and manager, the father of the Australian aircraft industry
- Lawrence Yu (born 1946), Hong Kong businessman
Christianity
- Lawrence of Rome (died 258), deacon and Roman Catholic saint, born in Spain
- Lawrence I (bishop of Milan), bishop of Milan from 490 to c. 511, Roman Catholic saint
- Lawrence, Archbishop of Split (died 1099), Benedictine monk and Archbishop of Split 1060–1099
- Brother Lawrence de la Résurrection (died 1691), Carmelite friar
Criminals
- Lawrence Grecco (born 1959), known as Larry Ray, American criminal
- Lawrence Nassar (born 1963), also known as Larry Nassar, US Lebanese criminal and former physician
- Lawrence Singleton (1927–2001), American criminal
Education
- Lawrence S. Bacow, American former president of Tufts University
- Lawrence Klein (1920–2013), American economist, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences
- Lawrence Krauss (born 1954), Canadian-American theoretical physicist and cosmologist, professor of physics, and President of The Origins Project Foundation
- Lawrence C. Levy (born 1950), executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, and journalist
- Lawrence Lessig, professor of physics at Cornell University
- Lawrence Solan (1952–2024), American professor of law at Brooklyn Law School
- Lawrence A. Tabak (born 1951), American dentist and biomedical scientist
- Lawrence Schiffman (born 1948), American professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at NYU
- Lawrence Summers (born 1954), American economist, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, president of Harvard University
- Lawrence Zalcman (1943–2022), professor of Mathematics at Bar-Ilan University
Politics
- Lawrence (judge royal) (died after 1180), Hungarian nobleman, Judge royal 1164–1172
- Lavrentiy Beria (1899–1953), Soviet politician
- Lawrence A. Conner, Sr. (1899–1964), American politician
- Lawrence T. Fuglaar (1895-1972), American politician
- Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go (born 1974), Filipino politician
- Lawrence Gonzi, Maltese politician and former Prime Minister (2004-13)
- Lawrence M. Rulison (1917–1966), American lawyer and politician
- Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai (born 1972), Singaporean economist and politician, fourth Prime Minister of Singapore (from 2024)
- Lawrence Xu-Nan, New Zealand politician
Sports
- Lawrence Akandu (born 1974), Nigerian-born Hong Kong football player
- Lawrence Harvey Brown, known as Larry Brown (born 1940), American basketball player and coach
- Lawrence Cager (born 1997), American football player
- Lawrence Chimezie Akandu (born 1974), Nigerian-born Hong Kong football player
- Lawrence Dallaglio (born 1972), English former rugby union player
- Lawrence Demmy (1931–2016), British ice dancer
- Lawrence Hardy (1913–?), English footballer
- Lawrence Jacquelin (1923–1992), American NASCAR driver
- Lawrence Lemieux (born 1955), Canadian sailor
- Laurence McGivern (born 1992), Irish Paralympic swimmer
- Lawrence Morgan (1915–1997), Australian sportsman
- Laurence Myers, known as Lon Myers (1858–1899), American sprinter and middle distance runner
- Lawrence Naesen (born 1992), Belgian cyclist
- Lawrence Ng (fencer) (born 1999), Hong Kong fencer
- Lawrence Okoye (born 1991), British-born American football player and Olympian
- Lawrence Peckham (born 1944), Australian high jumper
- Lawrence Sampleton (born 1959), American former football player
- Lawrence Sapp (born 2001), American Paralympic swimmer
- Lawrence Sherry (1935–2006), American Major League Baseball player and coach
- Lawrence Taylor (born 1959), American Hall-of-Fame football player
- Lawrence Thomas (footballer) (born 1992), Australian footballer
- Lawrence Virgil (born 1990), American football player
- Laurence Whiteley, (born 1991), British parasport rower
- Lawrence Woods (born 1998), American football player
Writers
- Lawrence Hill (born 1957), Canadian writer
- Lawrence O'Toole (journalist), Canadian journalist
- Lawrence Wright (born 1947), American writer and journalist
Other
- Lawrence Baskir (born 1938), American federal judge
- Lawrence Hargrave (1850-1915), Australian inventor, explorer, astronomer, engineer and aeronautical pioneer
- Lawrence Joel (1928–1984), U.S. Army medic awarded the Medal of Honor
- Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (born 1965), English interior designer and television personality
- Lawrence Oates (1880–1912), member of ill-fated Scott expedition to the South Pole
Fictional characters
- Lawrence, character in the 1995 American coming-of-age teen comedy movie Clueless
- Lawrence Alamain, character from the American soap opera Days of Our Lives
- Lawrence Fletcher, Ferb's dad and Phineas's stepdad in the Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb
- Lawrence, minor character from animated children's television series Mona the Vampire
- Lawrence, character from 2003 comedy film School of Rock
- Lawrence, character from comedy-drama television series Insecure
- Dr. Lawrence Gordon, character from the Saw franchise
See also
- All pages with titles beginning with Lawrence
- Larry (disambiguation)
- Laurence
- Lawrence (surname)
- Lawrence (disambiguation)
- Lawrie, including a list of people with the given name, many of them named Lawrence
References
- ^ a b Hanks, P; Hardcastle, K; Hodges, F (2006) [1990]. A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
- ^ Hanks, P; Hardcastle, K; Hodges, F (2006) [1990]. A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.