Laurent

Laurent is the French form of Laurentius, a Latin name meaning someone from Laurentum. The ancient Italian place name is traditionally associated with laurel, but Laurent’s immediate meaning is geographical. This distinction separates the name’s origin from the later symbolism of laurel wreaths and achievement.

Laurent de Brunhoff, the author and illustrator who continued the Babar books, gives the name a literary and artistic connection. Many English readers also recognize it in the surname Saint Laurent, though the given name has its own long French history. Laurence and Lawrence belong to the same family in English. Laurent keeps the compact French form, whose spoken ending differs from what an English reading of the final letters might suggest.