# Lars

Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries.

## Origin

Lars means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel", and is therefore related to the name Laurence and Lauren.
A homonymous Etruscan name was borne by several Etruscan kings, and later used as a last name by the Roman Lartia family. The etymology of the Etruscan name is unknown.

## Notable people

* Lars I [sv], bishop of Linköping (1236–1258)
* Lars II [sv], bishop of Linköping (1292–1307)
* Lars (archbishop of Uppsala) (1255–1267)
* Lars Kristian Abrahamsen (1855–1921), Norwegian politician
* Lars Ahlfors (1907–1996), Finnish Fields Medal recipient
* Lars Amble (1939–2015), Swedish actor and director
* Lars Herminius Aquilinus, ancient Roman consul
* Lars Bak (born 1980), Danish road bicycle racer
* Lars Bak (computer programmer) (born 1965), Danish computer programmer
* Lars Beckman (born 1967), Swedish politician
* Lars Bender (born 1989), German footballer
* Lars Christensen (1884–1965), Norwegian shipowner, whaling magnate and philanthropist
* Lars Ditlev (1951–2021), Danish-American football player
* Lars Magnus Ericsson (1846–1926), Swedish inventor
* Lars Eriksson (disambiguation), several people
* Lars Frederiksen (born 1971), American musician
* Lars Frölander (born 1974), Swedish swimmer
* Lars Eilebrecht (born 1972), German software engineer
* Lars Eller (born 1989), Danish ice hockey player
* Lars Engsund (born 1968), Swedish politician
* Lars Grael (born 1964), Brazilian sailor
* Lars Gullin (1928–1976), Swedish jazz saxophonist
* Lars Haglund (born 1940), Swedish discus thrower
* Lars Jorgensen (born 1970), American swimmer and college coach
* Lars Peter Hansen (born 1952), American economist and Nobel laureate
* Lars Hegaard (born 1950), Danish composer and guitarist
* Lars Hjortsberg (1772–1843), Swedish actor
* Lars Holte (born 1966), Norwegian trance producer and DJ
* Lars Hörmander (1931–2012), Swedish mathematician and Fields Medal recipient
* Lars Isacsson (born 1970), Swedish politician
* Lars Iyer (born 1970), British novelist and philosopher
* Lars Jansson (cartoonist) (1926–2000), Finnish author and cartoonist
* Lars Jansson (composer) (born 1951), Swedish jazz pianist and composer
* Lars Jonsson (disambiguation), several people
* Lars Kleppich (born 1967), Australian sailor
* Lars Klingbeil (born 1978), German politician
* Lars Knudsen (born 1962), Danish researcher in cryptography
* Lars Kragh Andersen (born 1980), Danish activist
* Lars Krutak (born 1971), American tattoo anthropologist
* Lars Lagerbäck (born 1948), Swedish football manager
* Lars Johann Yngve Lannerbäck (born 1963), Swedish musician, better known as Yngwie Malmsteen
* Lars Larsen (disambiguation), several people
* Lars Larson (born 1959), American conservative talk radio show host
* Lars Leiro (1914–2005), Norwegian politician
* Lars Lindberg Christensen (born 1970), Danish astronomer
* Lars Lönnroth (born 1935), Swedish literary scholar
* Lars-Erik Lövdén (born 1950), Swedish politician
* Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt (born 1974), Swedish composer and vocalist of Opeth and Bloodbath
* Lars Mikkelsen (born 1964), Danish actor
* Lars Mittank (born 1986), German man who disappeared in 2014
* Lars Monsen (born 1963), Norwegian adventurer and journalist
* Lars Nootbaar (born 1997), American baseball player
* Lars Olsen (disambiguation), several people
* Lars Onsager (1903–1976), Norwegian chemist and Nobel laureate
* Lars Pensjö, creator of the LPMud software
* Lars Petrus (born 1960), Swedish Rubik's Cube champion
* Lars Porsena, Etruscan king of Clusium
* Lars Løkke Rasmussen (born 1964), Prime Minister of Denmark, 2009 to 2011 and 2015 to 2019
* Lars Kristian Relander (1883–1942), Finnish president
* Lars Riedel (born 1967), German discus thrower
* Lars Rainer Rüetschi (born 1977), Swiss musician
* Lars Saabye Christensen (born 1953), Norwegian author
* Lars Schütze (born 1974), German politician
* Lars Sigmundstad (born 1943), Norwegian politician
* Lars Skalm (born c. 1430), Finnish noble and mayor of Turku
* Lars Spuybroek (born 1959), Dutch architect
* Lars Stjernkvist (born 1955), Swedish politician and journalist
* Lars Tolumnius (died 437 BC), Etruscan king of Veii
* Lars Troell (1916–1998), Swedish surgeon
* Lars von Trier (born 1956), Danish film director
* Lars Ulrich (born 1963), Danish drummer for the heavy metal band Metallica
* Lars Unnerstall (born 1990), German footballer
* Lars Vilks (1946–2021), Swedish artist
* Lars Wegendal (born 1949), Swedish politician

## Fictional characters

* Lars, the Go Jetters' expert mechanic
* Lars, in the Adult Swim television pilot Paid Programming
* Lars, in the 1979 film Scavenger Hunt, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger
* Laramie "Lars" Barriga, a supporting character in the Steven Universe cartoon series
* Lars, in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode The Gamesters of Triskelion
* Lars, the unseen husband of Phyllis Lindstrom in The Mary Tyler Moore Show
* Lars Alexandersson, in the Tekken series
* Lars Fillmore, in the animated movie Futurama: Bender's Big Score
* Lars Lindstrom, the lead character of the 2007 film Lars and the Real Girl, portrayed by Ryan Gosling
* Dr. Lars Pinfield, in the 2024 film Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, portrayed by James Acaster
* Lars Rodriguez, in the Rocket Power TV series
* Lars Umlaut, in the Guitar Hero series
* Lars, the main character (a baby polar bear) in the children's book series The Little Polar Bear by Hans de Beer
* Lars, in the 2011 film The Thing, a prequel to the 1982 film of the same name
* Lars, in the 2003 film "101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure", a German artist
* Lars, a family name in the "Star Wars" film series, a matrimonial branch of the Skywalker family