Larkin
A surname usually understood as a diminutive of Lawrence, meaning “little Lawrence” or “son of Lawrence.”
The #1,521 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,095 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is generally taken to come from the personal name Lawrence, through a medieval pet form such as Lark or Larkin. In this view, the name ultimately goes back to Latin Laurentius, meaning “of Laurentum,” an ancient Italian place-name. The suffix -kin was a common medieval diminutive marker, so Larkin would originally have meant something like “little Lawrence.”
History
English surname writers have long treated Larkin as one of several diminutive forms of Lawrence, alongside Larking and Larkins. It appears in records in England and later in Ireland and North America, where it became established as a hereditary surname. The spelling has also generated related forms such as Lorkin and Larkins.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lower explicitly grouped Larkin with the diminutives of Lawrence, showing that this connection was already standard in 19th-century surname scholarship.
From the historical record
“and Lark ins. LARKIN. LARKIXG. LARKIXS. See Lawrence. LARMOUTII. See Learmouth. LARNED. Learned — a man of scholar- ship. (America.) EARNER. Not discipulus, but a keeper of bacon. See Lardner.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom