Lorenzen
A German and Danish patronymic surname meaning “son of Lorenz” or “son of Laurence.”
The #8,784 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 82,707 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lorenzen is a patronymic surname built from the given name Lorenz, the German form of Laurence, with the Scandinavian/Germanic surname ending -en meaning “son of” in family-name use. In plain terms, it originally identified someone as the son or descendant of a man named Lorenz. The personal name Lorenz ultimately goes back to the Roman name Laurentius, meaning “from Laurentum” or associated with the laurel tree.
History
The surname is most common in northern Germany and Denmark, where patronymics in -sen and -en are traditional. It also appears in immigrant communities in the United States, especially among families of German or Danish ancestry. As patronymic naming became hereditary, the label passed from father to children as a fixed surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The root behind Lorenzen is the same one that gave English the name Lawrence and the word laurel.