Humanverse

Lawayne vs Lawrence

American parents have registered 463,357 Lawrences since 1880, against 579 Lawaynes. Lawrence is still ahead, with 585 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Lawayne against Lawrence, 1880 to 2025 0 3k 6k 9k 12k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Lawayne Lawrence

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Lawrence has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 2010, when Lawayne had 13 and Lawrence had 583.

Side by side

  Lawayne Lawrence
Total US births 579463,357
Most in one year 1510,336
Babies in 2025 9585
Estimated living today 480221,000
Median age today 3565
Peak year 19401952
Best rank 1,802nd boys35th boys
Rank in 2025 8,243rd518th
First recorded 19261880
Girls / boys 10 / 5692,187 / 461,170

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Lawrences alive today are over 65; half the Lawaynes are over 35. That is 30 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Lawayne and Lawrence.