Lauren

Where the name comes from

• Latin, through French and English
  From Laurentum. Laurentum was a seaside town in ancient Italy. Its name is usually explained as "town of bay trees," from Latin laurus, "laurel" or "bay tree."
  Laurentius (masculine) and Laurentia (feminine), "of Laurentum"
  Lauren belongs to the Laurence family of names. The masculine name came from Old French Lorenz (French Laurent) and before that from Latin Laurentius. The feminine form was already in use in the Middle Ages. Records show Laurentia in France about 900 years ago, and later spellings such as Laurencia, Lorence and Laurence in France, England and Italy. A medieval-names dictionary gives a second possible source for the feminine Laurencia: Latin laurentia, "lavender." Popular meaning: "laurel." That meaning is a shortcut. The name first meant "person from Laurentum," and the laurel comes in through the town's name.

Lauren across traditions

• Christian. The name spread with the fame of Saint Lawrence (Laurence) of Rome. He was a deacon who was martyred about 1,770 years ago. He became one of the most honored martyrs of the Roman church, and his name spread across Europe in many forms. His feast day is August 10.
• Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Catalan. In these languages the masculine Laurentius became Lorenzo (Spanish and Italian), Llorenç (Catalan) and Lourenço (Portuguese). Medieval Italian records also show feminine forms such as Laurenza and Lorencia.
• Surname. Lauren (often spelled Laurén) is also a Swedish and Finnish surname. It was built from a Latin-style form of Lars, the Swedish version of Lawrence. In Finland it goes back to the 1700s.
• American naming. Popularity: peaked in the 1990s, when it was the #13 name for US girls born that decade. It was also #19 in the 1980s and #19 in the 2000s.

Who carried it

• Saint Lawrence (Laurentius) of Rome (Died about 1,770 years ago): One of the seven deacons who served Pope Sixtus II. He was executed under the emperor Valerian. Legend says he was roasted on a gridiron, but modern scholars widely reject that story. They think he was beheaded.
• Lauren Bacall (1924–2014): American actress, born Betty Joan Perske. She became a star at 19 in To Have and Have Not (1944) and made Lauren famous as a woman's name.

Forms in other languages

Lauryn, Loren, Laurin, Laurie, Laurence, Laurencia, Laurentia, Lorenza

Lauren in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.