Laurence vs Lawrence

queenbone

What do you think of this name?

Also which spelling do you prefer? It seems the spelling Laurence is older, but Lawrence is more commonly used now.

[Poll]

526SadieSadie

I like both of them, but I think "Laurence" will be constantly spelled Lawrence on everything.  It's more common.

Pearl16

The name is perfectly fine (either spelling), but I really hate the nn Larry. It just sounds so trashy or redneck to me. Perhaps I just have bad personal connotations with it, but the possibility of the nn Larry would deter me.

aimee1899

It is kind of a family. My uncle's first name is Laurence, then it is my brother's mn and lastly my nephew's mn. All spelled Laurence.

queenbone

Pearl16:

The name is perfectly fine (either spelling), but I really hate the nn Larry. It just sounds so trashy or redneck to me. Perhaps I just have bad personal connotations with it, but the possibility of the nn Larry would deter me.

Yeah, I don't Larry either. Our best friends have a Harry.  And they named their 2nd son Leo which rhymes with our son Theo.  Adding a Larry to the mix would be a bit of a nightmare. I'm trying to decide if we could do this name w/o a nn.

austenreader85

I voted Lawrence, but I would say them differently.  Laurence sounds more like the name Laura.  Lawrence emphasizes Law- and takes awhile before I get to the R.

I think of Laurence as a last name, but that's probably because I'm such a fan of Little Women.

alohamora

I really like Lawrence.  I think you could do it without a nn...it's really only 2 syllables.  Another option would be Laurie, like from Little Women.

strawberrytree

I'd pronounce Laurence the French way (lohr-ahnce) and Lawrence as Lawr-ence, rhymes with fence. Since I'm guessing you're going for the second, American pronunciation I'd go with Lawrence. 

stahlop

Lawrence is our son's middle name.

queenbone

strawberrytree:

I'd pronounce Laurence the French way (lohr-ahnce) and Lawrence as Lawr-ence, rhymes with fence. Since I'm guessing you're going for the second, American pronunciation I'd go with Lawrence. 

Interesting. I would pronounce it a combo of the two: lohr- ence. I see that BTN has two different pronunciations for Laurence a French and an English.

Maybe I'm better off sticking to names with only one spelling and pronunciation?

strawberrytree

queenbone:

strawberrytree:

I'd pronounce Laurence the French way (lohr-ahnce) and Lawrence as Lawr-ence, rhymes with fence. Since I'm guessing you're going for the second, American pronunciation I'd go with Lawrence. 

Interesting. I would pronounce it a combo of the two: lohr- ence. I see that BTN has two different pronunciations for Laurence a French and an English.

Maybe I'm better off sticking to names with only one spelling and pronunciation?

It is also a girl's name in French (it might be used for boys, but I've only known girls with this name), which I probably should have mentioned! 

misskaydee

I like it spelled Lawrence. This name is on my short list. If I ever used it I would go with the nicknames Law or Lars. DH really likes Law, and that is saying a lot because he doesnt like any names!

I am a little hesitant though, I also dont like the nn Larry. I wouldnt so much be worried others would start calling my kid Larry while hes young because generally people dont just come up with nns for other peoples children unless its a REALLY obvious nn but as a teenager I could see it being a name that catches on from other classmates, I wouldnt want that to stick!

Fink

queenbone:

Pearl16:

The name is perfectly fine (either spelling), but I really hate the nn Larry. It just sounds so trashy or redneck to me. Perhaps I just have bad personal connotations with it, but the possibility of the nn Larry would deter me.

Yeah, I don't Larry either. Our best friends have a Harry.  And they named their 2nd son Leo which rhymes with our son Theo.  Adding a Larry to the mix would be a bit of a nightmare. I'm trying to decide if we could do this name w/o a nn.

 

I have two friends named Laurence (one spells it "au" and the other spells it "aw") and neither have ever been called Larry.  Normally, I think you can't stop people from using common nicknames for a longer name, but with this name I think you can easily do so.  Larry is just a little more of a stretch as a nn than, for example, Cassie for Cassandra.