Frequency: (13470)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Labhradha (see Lavery).
2. Northern English and Scottish: from a pet form of Lawrence.
3. Southwestern English: habitational name from Lowery in Devon, named with the Old English personal name Lēofa or Lufa + Old English worðig ‘enclosure’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
