LAURENCE - Given Name

Given Name

• Laurence Fishburne, American actor
• Laurence Godfrey (archer), British athlete
• Laurence Godfrey (physics lecturer), regular and controversial contributor to the Usenet newsgroups 'soc.culture.British' and 'soc.culture.Canada'
• Laurence Golborne, Chilean mining and energy minister
• Laurence Harvey, Lithuanian-born actor
• Laurence "Laurie" Lee (1914–1997), British poet and novelist
• Laurence McKeown, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
• Laurence Myers (1858–99), American world-record-setting runner
• Laurence Olivier (1907–1989), British actor and director
• Laurence Owen, American figure skater
• Laurence J. Rittenband (1905–1993), American judge
• Laurence Rochat, Swiss cross-country skier who has competed since 1996
• Laurence Tribe, American professor of constitutional law
• Laurence Tureaud, American actor, motivational speaker, wrestler, humanitarian, and bodyguard
• St Laurence O'Toole, or Lorcán Ua Tuathail, Irish Roman Catholic Saint

Laurence is from the Roman cognomen Laurentius, which meant "from Laurentum". Laurentum was a city in ancient Italy, its name probably deriving from Latin laurus "laurel". Saint Laurence was a 3rd-century deacon and martyr from Rome. According to tradition he was roasted alive on a gridiron because, when ordered to hand over the church's treasures, he presented the sick and poor. Due to the saint's popularity, the name came into general use in the Christian world (in various spellings).

In the Middle Ages this name was common in England, partly because of a second saint by this name, a 7th-century archbishop of Canterbury. Likewise it has been common in Ireland due to the 12th-century Saint Laurence O'Toole (whose real name was Lorcán). Since the 19th century the spelling Lawrence has been more common, especially in America.