Lauren

In Germany it's pronounced LAO-ren.

This name is correctly pronounced LAW-ren. If it were pronounced LOR-en, it would be spelled differently.

I was named after Lauren Bacall as well. My mother believed her name was pronounced as mine is. When I was growing up the name Lauren was very uncommon. I knew one other Lauren and we both pronounce it the same way as "LeWren". In my opinion this is the prettiest pronunciation and get told that often. Of course I am always having to correct people when I am called "Lohren","Lawren" or "Loren". I always tell people that since I have had the name longer than most Laurens, the way my name is pronounced is the correct way. :-)

I live in the NW US, and I've only ever heard Lauren pronounced as lor-en. I know a male Loren and a bunch of female Laurens, and their names are pronounced the same here. I also pronounce Laura as lor-a, laurel as lor-el, Laurence as lor-ence. I also pronounce Mary, merry, and marry all the same. :P

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I'm not going to say either lor-en or law-ren are "right", they are just accents. Don't take offence at people's accents.

I love this name. I pronounce it Law-ren because Lor-en seems like a boy's name to me. Also, "au" is usually pronounced like "aw" in the English language, correct? I know that "au" is pronounced like "oh" in French but as Lauren is an American name and not French, the pronunciation Law-ren makes more sense to me, personally.

The debate on the correct pronunciation rages, it seems. I hate to be dismissive, but it should be obvious that the "correct" pronunciation of ANY name is the pronunciation the bearer of that name uses.

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Pronunciation tends to be regional--perhaps you've heard that there are things called "regional accents" and "regional speech patterns." The way that a given name or word is pronounced may be STANDARD in one region and virtually unheard of in another.

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Variant pronunciations are INTERESTING. You should appreciate the variety and not insist that your version is the only correct one. (Having said that, I prefer Law-ren myself).

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PS-To the female Laurens out there who are mortified when the name is mistaken for Laurence, take heart. There is a French feminine name Laurence (pronounced a la francaise as "lo-RAHNS," with a nasal 'n,' bien sur). The masculine form in French is "Laurent." French-born Laurences living or visiting English speaking countries must have to put up with any number of confusions based on their names.

I know a Scottish girl who says law-renne and it sounds nice how she pronounces it combined with her accent.

On pronunciation in America, I've noticed that it's almost always pronounced loren in the South (mainly because of accents and southerners laid-back personalities). Up north, where I'm originally from, the majority of people pronounce it law-ren. I can't remember how people pronounce it in the East and West, as I was little when I lived there. But every time someone down here (Alabama) pronounces my little sister's name Loren, I always correct them out of habit (and then get called a Yankee because I'm from the North and articulate and pronounce my words more accurately, no offense to Southerners). If you want it to be pronounced Loren, spell it that way, as it's much simpler.

This is my name, and everyone I know pronounces it Loren. I can't imagine it pronounced any other way. I just don't like it when people spell my name Loren.

I'm American, and all the Laurens I know (and I do know quite a few) pronounce it "Loren". Pronunciation of this name probably does not have to do so much with region as it does individual taste.

My name is Lauren and I pronounce it Loren not Lawren and so does everyone else in my school. But my teachers always spell it how I pronounce it.

Lauren is pronounced 'Lor-en' and not 'Law-rin.' Lauren was made popular by Lauren Bacall (pronounced 'Lor-en') and is listed in 5 of my name books as being French. The French 'au' is not pronounced like the English 'au' or 'aw.'

It's not an actual French name. It is derived from a French version of an old Roman name, but it's not French itself. Therefore while 'Loren' is the only pronunciation I've ever heard, it's not necessarily the correct one just because that would be the French pronunciation. I think Lauren Bacall essentially invented it, so her pronunciation would be probably the most 'accurate.'

Fair point, but if lots of people pronounce it in another way, does that not become an official pronunciation, too? After all, anything can be a name, right?

Likewise, a Lauren. I live along the west coast of California, and believe it or not, I was shocked last month when I met my first namesake. I’ve always pronounced my name Lar-en; maybe because my parents came from Texas and they may have a little accent, it sounds more feminine than Lor-en, and because it is spelled and pronounced similar to such words as ‘laundry’.

Hello, my name is Lauren as well, and it is a fairly uncommon name where I live. I am from New Jersey, and some of the people with New York type accents like to make the 'au' part sound like a drawn out 'O'. I don't like this proununciation. It sounds like Loren. My name is pronounced including the A very much: Lar-en, (the lar part does not sound like the lar in Larry, it's like the lar as is Lark). And yes, I love my name, it is classy and sophisticated. About nicknames. I am called Ren, or Lar, or LaLa (Lala is a family baby name for me though). :)

I am from the U.S. and my name is pronounced Lor-in.

I suppose it depends how you pronounce the au- you can pronounce it 'oh' as in sausage or 'or' as in naughty. Both are perfectly valid. my name is Lauren and I pronounce it the first way. Most Americans pronounce it the second way because of their accents, and most Australians and New Zealanders (where I live) pronounce it the first way.

My name also is Lauren. In Australia, where I live, we pronounce it lorin, None of that American way over here. I have a friend who calls me Lawran, it drives me insane! LAUREN ROX!

I would like to point out that the name was popularized by Lauren Bacall, who pronounced it Loren, as it is supposed to be. You don't call a Laurence Law-rence (though granted, that is a valid spelling), you say Lor-ence. And Laura (lor-a) is not the same as Lara (law-ra); they're two seperate. names. I am a Lauren, I have cousin who is a Laura, and have known several Laurens and Lauras, and they were all pronounced the traditional way. I cringe when I hear it pronounced any other way. This is the correct way; don't make up spellings or pronunciations for well-known, traditional names. It's stupid, and you look stupid when you do it.

I, too, am named after Lauren Bacall, but who cares how she spells or says it. We are our own people, just with the same name.