Boys' name · peaked in 1903
Laurence name popularity since 1925
31,806 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Laurence (0.9% girls, 99.1% boys). Half of them were born in 1951 or earlier, so the typical Laurence is about 75 years old in 2026. Laurence peaked in 1903 as the #202 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 31,806
- Named Laurence, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1903
- #202 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,747 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.1% boys
- 276 girls · 31,530 boys
- Most popular in
- Maine
- 3.04× its national share
Peak year is the year Laurence made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Laurence births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1952. Measured as a share of all babies, Laurence peaked earlier, in 1903.
- Steepest fall: Between 1973 and 1978, Laurence's share of baby boys fell by 35%, from 1 in 7,640 to 1 in 11,800.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Laurence's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Laurence.
Decade by decade
Babies named Laurence in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 42 | 2,903 | – |
| 1930s | 21 | 4,808 | #261 |
| 1940s | 16 | 6,670 | #227 |
| 1950s | 29 | 6,889 | #284 |
| 1960s | 60 | 4,216 | #411 |
| 1970s | 12 | 1,938 | #608 |
| 1980s | 25 | 1,402 | #759 |
| 1990s | 22 | 1,073 | #998 |
| 2000s | 16 | 661 | #2,051 |
| 2010s | 11 | 554 | #2,249 |
| 2020–25 | 22 | 416 | #1,747 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
39.4% of babies named Laurence from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Laurence is most popular
The index compares Laurence's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Laurence.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Maine | 3.04× | 352 |
| Massachusetts | 3.03× | 1,955 |
| New York | 2.40× | 4,943 |
| New Jersey | 1.68× | 1,251 |
| Connecticut | 1.67× | 490 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Laurence and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Laurence (this page) | 31,530 | 1903 |
| Laurance | 1,632 | 1885 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Laurence's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Laurence.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Laurence (1903).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data