# Lawrence (given name)

Lawrence is a masculine given name. It is an Anglicisation of the French Laurent, which is in turn derived from the Latin Laurentius or Old Greek Lavrenti. Pet forms of Lawrence include Larry, Lawrie and, less commonly, Law.

## 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