Lawson
An Irish surname of Dublin. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 119,053 people, the 256th most common surname in the country.
Lawson is the anglicised form of two distinct Irish names. Some you can hear in the English name; others look and sound nothing like it, and were simply swapped for it.
Mac Labhrainn, son of Laurence
Mac Labhráis, son of Laurence
Where the name comes from
Mac Labhrainn is son of Laurence, a Scottish surname behind MacLaurin, MacLaren and Lawson. Mac Labhráis is the same name again, and it gives Lawrenson and Lawson too.
Dublin, photographed
Photographs made in Dublin.
Dublin
Dublin is a county as well as a city. The bay has Howth at the north end and Killiney Hill at the south, the Muglins are a pair of rocks off Dalkey, and the Dublin Mountains start about half an hour from the city centre.
Notable bearers
Nigella Lawson (born 1960), writer, journalist, and television presenter.
Liam Lawson (born 2002), Formula One driver and racing driver.
Bianca Lawson (born 1979), actor.
Nigel Lawson (1932-2023), politician, journalist, and editor.
Maggie Lawson (born 1980), actor.
About this page
The counties on this page are where the name was thickest on the ground in Ireland a century and a half ago, not a claim about any one family. Names moved around inside the country as much as they left it. The photographs are mine, made in the counties named.
More Irish surnames: Smith · Brown · Miller · Wilson · Anderson · Thomas · Taylor · Moore · Jackson · Martin · Lee · Thompson
How common the name was
In 1890, 15 births were registered under Lawson in Ireland, most of them in Armagh, Down, and Dublin.
| Ulster | 10 | 67% |
|---|---|---|
| Leinster | 3 | 20% |
| Connacht | 1 | 7% |
| Munster | 1 | 7% |
| Ireland | 15 |
Armagh and Down are the ones I haven't worked in.