Laurence- Laurie or Larry

[Threeleafclover]

Hi all,

I love the name Laurence with the nickname Laurie but I'm really not a fan of the nickname Larry. Do you think if we use Laurie (pronounced like lorry) then people would follow suit and use Laurie or do you think we'll always end up with some people shortening it to Larry, especially when he's at school?

And I suppose generally do you think it's a mistake to use a name if you have a strong dislike of a common nickname of this name?

Thanks!

The Laurence I know goes by his nickname which is a shortened version of his surname. His first name never gets shortened tho so I think you'll be fine with whatever NN you want

I think Larry vs Laurie is a bit like Bob vs Rob or Bill vs Will - they're associated with different age group, and today's children and their parents are more likely to shorten it automatically to Laurie unless you specifically ask them not to.

Just don’t tell him you hate Larry or he may go for it in his teens to spite you!

I’ve only ever know Laurences or Laurences nn Laurie.

Larry would be v old fashioned and seems unlikely. If you call him Laurie from the start it will just be his day to day name.

I have a Laurence, mostly called Laurie, occasionally called Lol or Lolly, never ever been called Larry by anyone, not even his obnoxious uncle who tries to call my Leo, Lenny.

I have a Laurence and he's only ever Laurie, apart from his grandad who calls him Laurence. He's only 3 so who knows what he'll be when he's older, but not a single person so far has tried to call him anything other than Laurie or Laurence.

I love Larry. Much prefer it to Laurie.

I love the name Laurence and Laurie is the natural shortening to me.

However sod's law says that any shortening you hate may well be the one he ends up choosing for himself when he is older!

Unless you live in America, Laurie would be the usual shortening.
Laurence is great on it's own too.

My BIL is Laurence and he is called ( and calls himself) David. You can't always control what they end up being called !

I think Larry vs Laurie is a bit like Bob vs Rob or Bill vs Will - they're associated with different age group

This. Larry would have been the standard nickname in a previous generation, but not this one.

A child's peers produce a nickname, rarely the parents.

This.

However, it is names from the generation that would have been called 'Larry' that are very fashionable at the moment - the Stanleys and Alfs that my Great Uncles and friends were called.

I know a Larry. His real name is Laurence.
The actor Larry Lamb is a Lawrence.
Larry the cat is well-known

darkgreener has entries for Larry, so some people are using it, @Twoinapod

Larry is definitely old fashioned/dated, Lauries is more likely.

But I reckon Lol or Loz or variants of the same are what his mates will end up calling him.

I doubt kids will connect Laurence to Larry but it's not impossible. Laurie does seem more likely to me.

My Laurence is 11. He's never had a nickname, he hates Loz, but for some bizarre reason he's taken to calling himself Larry this year, as do his friends. I'm a bit ambivalent about but it, but he's happy with his own choice.

I know a Laurie and a Lance that are both short for Lawrence 🙂

I like Laurence and Laurie, but, like you, dislike Larry.
Larry seems like a middle aged American man from a bad TV show in the 70s. That's what it conjures up for me, anyway. I've not known a British Larry, and doubt your DSs classmates would come up with that, because it's really not that common; especially not in their generation.

Just go with Laurence/Laurie.

I've known a couple of male Laurie's and I think it is a lovely name. (Lawrence was on my shortlist but DH vetoed - boo!)

Laurences I have know go by Loz.

I've since discovered that my son's nickname came from a classmate. Uncle Larry is a character from Friday Night Dinner. So there definitely is a modern reference point. He's quite happy with it, dislikes Laurie, Lol or Loz. Kids 🤷‍♀️

Laurence gets Laurie in my book.

The bigger issue is that Laurence is female in France and Laurie is female in the US - so it can get a bit confusing. But it's a nice name and still relatively unusual. And better than Lawrence with a w!

(I did know a Larry but he would be about 70 now, possibly older).