Lauren
Masculine · “from Laurentum”
Lauren is given to girls far more often — 475,577 girls against 5,818 boys since 1880. See Lauren as a girl name
Lauren is a man's name in France and a woman's name in English, and the split is recent enough to date. Laurent is the French form of Laurence, and Laurentum was a city on the coast south of Rome before it was a laurel — the tree connection may be the later of the two rather than the earlier.
How old is the name Lauren?
Lauren first appears in US birth records in 1884 — 141 years ago. The typical Lauren alive today was born around 1954, making them about 71 years old. About 3,400 people named Lauren are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lauren most popular?
Lauren peaked in 1937, reaching #621 nationally. See the whole 1937 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Laurentum to Lauren
The story of Lauren
Laurence spread through the church on the strength of a third-century Roman deacon roasted on a gridiron, who is supposed to have told his executioners to turn him over. French made Laurent, which has been a man's name there without interruption ever since. English produced Lawrence and Laurence for men and, in the twentieth century, Lauren for women — a development that took place almost entirely in America, and quickly, after a young actress was given the name as a screen name in the nineteen-forties. It goes to boys here too, though very rarely now.
Meaningscholars disagree
from Laurentum
Laurentius means a man of Laurentum, an ancient town in Latium, and the town's own name is usually connected to laurus, the laurel — so the tree arrives at one remove and may be a folk explanation rather than the source. Roman writers already told the story that way. Either reading gives the name to the laurel eventually, and the crown of bay leaves given to victors and poets is what most people have in mind.
How the name formed
- Laurentum
- Laurentius
- Laurence
- Lauren
Related forms: Laurent · Lorenzo · Lorenzo · Wawrzyniec
Pronouncing Lauren
LOR-en
LOR-en, two syllables, stress at the front, the second vowel reduced. French Laurent is lo-RAHN with the weight at the back and a nasal ending, which is the same name and sounds nothing like it.
Nicknames for Lauren
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1884
- Most boys named
- 1989134 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #621reached in 1937
- Change vs 2021
- −44.4%5 in 2024, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Lauren in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Laurent in French — related form
- Lorenzo in Italian — related form
- Lorenzo in Spanish — related form
- Wawrzyniec in Polish — related form
Laurens among us
people named Lauren are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Lauren sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It descends from a documented Roman town and a very widely venerated saint.
- Ren and Laurie are both usable short forms in different registers.
- Every European language has a version of the parent name, so the family travels well.
- Lauren and Loren are both in use and sound identical, so the spelling is asked for regularly.
- It is a man's name in France, so the same spelling reads differently depending on the reader.
- The name is closely tied to one American generation and dates a person fairly precisely.
- This spelling is recorded for boys here as well, so on a form it settles less than it appears to.
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What they receive
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Lauren
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Laurens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,400 people named Lauren are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lauren in 2025?
- Lauren is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Lauren with classmates?
- Lauren will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Larry#1084 · Lawrence#518 · Louis#249 · Logan#53 · Liam#1 · Lucas#10 · Luke#33 · Leonard#637
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lauren? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lauren and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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