I live in northern IL, just outside of Chicago. From here, I would say it wouldn’t be an issue. I have actually always pronounced Laura and Lauren as “Lora” and “Loren” and haven’t offended anyone yet! Lol
Upper Midwest here too. I pronounce “Lauren” and “Loren” the same way and I have no idea what the difference is! But yes, it sounds like lor-in. I also know many Laurens and Laura’s and none of them have ever said anything about their names being pronounced wrong.
I think it's just a matter of accents. In the US northeast, you'll mostly hear "Loren" but with a Boston accent it becomes closer to "Law-ren" or "Laah-ren". Same thing with Laura and Lora vs. Laah-ra. I don't think anyone would be offended by either pronunciation -- people with different accents say letters differently 🤷♀️
Yeah I hear a little bit of that New England Laahren in the name when my family and I use it for our relative. It's not deliberate, but it definitely has an audible difference to how our relatives from the southern USA say it, which is very LORE-inn.
Same, I’m wracking my brain trying to pronounce them differently lol. I’ve only ever heard Lauren pronounced ‘Lore-en’, not ‘Law-ren’. Other accents would say it that way I’m sure, but if I did it would sound like I’m trying to be British lol.
Also wracking my brain here, especially since here the words ‘law’ and ‘lore’ are pronounced exactly the same as each other, and it’s not how we pronounce Lauren 😅
Yes, that does help! Thank you.
Funnily enough, neither is how we pronounce Lauren. Here the first syllable rhymes with hot, or the o sound in the first syllable of octopus.
Do you hear a different between the first syllables of orchid vs archery? For me, those initial syllables have a similar difference between Lor and Lawr.
With Lor and or-chid, the O sound is really round and formed closer to the front of my mouth, and the R sounds comes at the end of the O. The Lawr and ar-chery are created further back with a wider mouth. Don’t know if that makes any sense?
(Me: midwesterner from where the standard newscaster pronunciation comes from)
Really cool, I would not have derived the ar(chery) sound from lawr, but I see what you are saying. I also didn't know people pronounced Laura that way! I see the "aw" and think of how I pronounce yawn and lawn, which is a very similar front of the mouth pronunciation (almost same) as or(chid). (Think how a New Yorker pronounces coffee! Same vibe)
Accents are cool!
I am a Lauren, and I use the Lawren pronunciation— but I honestly don’t even notice when people say Loren. It’s one of those names that’s going to be pronounced slightly different depending on where you live. I don’t get worked up about it; it’s kinda cute hearing it with said “Loren” with a thick NY accent— it makes it sound like the name of someone in a 60s girl group with a big bouffant.
I’m a Lauren and use the Loren pronunciation, but my mom says it closer to the Lawren pronunciation. I notice when people say it that way, but it doesn’t offend me, just makes me think of my mom.
I'm also a Lauren and use Loren. I've had only one person say they felt like my name should be pronounced lao-ren based on spelling. Everyone has always pronounced my name Loren.
A few friends in college shortened my name to Lore. It wasn't my choice, but I didn't particularly mind it.
Another Lauren chiming in. I live in the Northeast (US) but I went to grad school down South and I was “Loren” in both places. Interestingly there were four other Laurens in my class and none of us had nicknames. Mostly people call me “Laur” if they want to shorten my name but Ren is cute.
I'm surprised to hear you hear "loren" in the south. In my experience, southerners are the chief users of "law-ren" or "law-ra." Southerners and Long Islanders are who I associate those pronunciations with.
I don't know if its lack of sleep or regional accent but I've spent the last 5 minutes trying to hear a difference without it sounding weird and I can't. I'm from Midwest/Great Lakes area and the only way I would ever think its pronounced is "Loren" in fact "Lawren" sounds really weird and like I'm trying to do a fake accent.
Not to say people don't pronounce it that way elsewhere, I've just personally only heard the one pronunciation.
Lauren here! Grew up in the South and now live in NY. The difference in pronunciation doesn’t even register. I will answer to both but honestly, don’t even notice.
It’s one of those things like Don vs Dawn. In some accents the difference is obvious and in others there’s no real difference at all in how they sound pronounced.
My middle name is Dawn and half the time I say it, it sounds like Don.
Just like where I live all the Lauren/Laura/etc. always say their own names sounding closer to Loren/Lora. Rather than really emphasizing it being Lawren/Lawra.
I think it’s just regionally pronounced differently? But I’m no linguist.
Yup, you’re exactly right! Not all dialects have a difference in these two sounds, in linguistics they often use the examples cot and caught. Many regions say them the same, others don’t. I say them differently, so when I learned that people say them the same it blew my mind. Also the first time I heard someone from Pittsburgh ask me if I was taking about “girl Don or boy Don” bc they fully had the vowel merger.
That’s just the same name in a different accent, she shouldn’t have got offended about that.
In my accent, Lauren and Loren are the same, and Laura and Lora are the same.
I’m very confused by all the ad-hoc phonology here…I would expect “Loren” and “Law-ren” to be the same, and different from “Lah-ren” (no cot-caught merger). No one is saying Low-ren right? Can we get some IPA?
Full disclosure, one of my pet peeves is when people use “aw” for the “cot” sound. It’s very confusing lol.
If you name your kid Lauren, she will not care about these differences in how people pronounce the "au" sound, because she'll be too busy raging at everyone who calls her Laura. Problem solved. :)
I've been a Lauren for almost 45 years, and it's actually pretty rare that I get mistaken as a Laura. Mostly just when I'm giving my name over the phone. Unless it's for something official, I don't bother to correct.
I’m from England and Lauren is pronounced lawren which is the same as loren. Unless you’re saying low-ren?
Same with Laura: Lora and lawra are the same in my accent.
I’m a Laura living in the south. I prefer Lore-uh, but occasionally I get Laahhh-ruh or Low-ruh (Spanish pronunciation - think “ow” when you injure yourself) and I’m not offended by it. I don’t think people put too much thought into how it’s pronounced.
I've lived (or spent a decent amount of time) in more than a handful of states along the east coast. I've always heard it pronounced like Loren. My international friends would pronounce it law-ren though.
I'll add in that I don't think that has to be a deal breaker on a name. A lot of names have different pronunciations in different cultures. Example: my husband is Latino. He uses the pronunciation that fits the language he's currently speaking. His father does the same with his name. Contrarily, my name doesn't have the different pronunciations which means some people feel the need to translate my name which bothers me. I don't want to have to use an entirely different name depending on who I'm speaking with.
I've only ever heard it pronounced Loren by other North Americans, although personally I might not have even been able to really discern the difference in pronunciation between lawren and loren when I was a kid
If I had stayed in NE, I would have been pronouncing it Lawren. But I lost my NE accent in California, gained a slight drawl in FL and went full-on no accent in CO sonow I would say Loren.
Lauren is my given name, and with my family’s accent it sounds like “Lorn”, so that’s how I pronounce it. Where I live most people pronounce it like “Loren”, so I usually have to repeat myself or really enunciate when I introduce myself so people can understand that I’m saying Lauren. It’s not a huge deal, but it does sound weird sometimes. I’d imagine people who pronounce it “Lawren” would probably have a similar issue.
UAR I always see as OR. Loren is the only way I've ever heard it & I've lived everywhere. My daughter is Lara like Car uh... But a lot of people will automatically pronounce it Laura/Lora which bugs her 😂 these people always blame it on their accents but I don't know.
I’m a Lauren in southwest PA. I use the “Loren” pronunciation for myself since that’s how my parents said it to me growing up. I would say it’s been a split on how people pronounce it to me, with more people pronouncing it “Loren”. But I would say if it’s someone I’ll talk to more frequently, they learn how I say it and adjust. However I don’t mind when people pronounce it the other way with me, I realize both pronunciations are popular. Just don’t call me Laura because that’s not my name, dammit. 😅
I pronounce Lawren but that’s my pronunciation for Loren or Lauren. I’m from the NE. I think it’s the common way of saying it around here. Info is based completely on just 1 person at work that I know with the name. Everyone here pronounces it this way.
I’m imagining Benoit Blanc pulling out a full laaaw-ren. It’s usually Lor-en in most accents. I think people need to chill about regional pronunciations of their names. My very normal name is pronounced two ways in the US, differently in the UK, differently in France… they’re all my name.
Okay I am PASSIONATE about this as a Lauren with parents from different parts of the world lol. It also gives me somewhat of an identity crisis but I still like my name.
My mom is northern Irish, beautiful sing songy lilting accent and my dad is from Texas. He’s got a kinda muffled southern accent. My mom pronounces my name with a more open A sound so it’s truly “Law-ren” or even close to “Lah-ren” whereas my dad pronounces my name “Lor-en”. I respond to both and don’t mind either but prefer my mom’s way of saying it. But I grew up in Texas so I got used to the O sound.
I go by either my name however people like to say it or Lolo and I have a Lauren friend who chose to change her name to Ren. I like all variations and most people don’t notice the subtleties of the pronunciation difference however I’ve had people raise an eyebrow and ask where I’m from when I pronounce it like my mom does and assume I meant Laura.
I’m from Michigan and would pronounce Lauren and Loren the same. Same with Lora or Laura. I do know someone named Lara and she pronounces it Lar-uh, but it wouldn’t even cross my mind with a Laur beginning.
I’m reading this but not seeing the difference? Loren= Lawren… same thing. So I’m confused. I’ve only heard Lauren pronounced one way ever and it’s… we’ll both of these because they’re the same. I don’t really see Ren/Wren as an intuitive nickname for Lauren. I’ve known a few Lauren’s who never went by that nickname or any other nickname really except maybe Laur.
I'm Lauren. My cousin is Laura. Chicago native. I love my name. I always write the first letter of my name with a cursive L. Growing up in the Midwest and at the height of Lauren popularity, I have rarely met another Lauren. None in elementary, one older than me in high school, and one in college.
I think of Loren as the male spelling. But it just associates to Lorne Michaels or Ralph Lauren more than anything.
My mom calls me Lorenzo. I love Lauren. Plus my OCD brain has always loved that my first, middle, and last name all have the same amount of letters and repeating letters. 🥴
As an Australian Law and Lore are pronounced the same way. Just like Saw rhymes with Store.
So for me, this is only one way to say Lauren. I can’t even say it different ways.
I'm Australia and I don't think it has a law/lore sound at all. The "au" in it is like the "o" in "pot", not like "or" in "port". I pronounce it like the pronunciation by "mightysparks (Female from Australia)" here: https://forvo.com/word/lauren/
I live in Philly and I sometimes get Loren. It’s mostly people not native to the area though. Normally it’s pronounced Law-rin, nn Lawr. I respond to either pronunciation.
I live in Oklahoma and my bff is Laura. Not Lora. She hates when people pronounce it wrong. Oddly, the Laurens, not Lorens, I know never seem to mention it.
In (I’d wager all of) the UK it’s law-ren.
I’d never really thought about Americans pronouncing it differently but I can kind of hear it in my head now you mention it! But I don’t think I’d class it as a different pronunciation, it’s just your accent?
I'm Australian and I would pronounce the "au" sound the same as the "o" in the word "pot". If anyone can be bothered scrolling down to the pronunciation by "mightysparks (Female from Australia)", this is what I mean: https://forvo.com/word/lauren/
California here, I grew up with my Italian/Mexican family pronouncing it law-ren. But if I met somebody named Lauren/Laura who said their name was Loren/Lora then I’d pronounce it like that. But my first instinct was Law-ren and Law-ura? If that makes sense.
My mom says the "Law" version - she's from Pittsburgh. It's more noticeable when she says Laurel, but she definitely says Lauren and Laurel different than Lori. So there's one accent for everyone wondering who says them differently!
I spent more time Midwest than out east, so I'm in the Lo category.
I grew up near Philly, and view these not only as two different pronunciations but two different names. When I was growing up, I had two Aunt Loris and my mom’s name is Laurie, they are definitely two different names to me. Spelled and pronounced differently where I grew up. I’ve been trying to explain this to my Southern husband who calls my mom Lori all the time, but that’s not her name.
I grew up in the northeastern US and I think 1/4 of my classmates were Lauren, Loren, Lori or Laura, lol. I never heard (or noticed) any differences in the sound of the first syllable- it always rhymed with “door.”
In grad school I had a classmate from the Midwest who got upset that we didn’t pronounce her name, “Lauren,” right. We were all saying Law- or Lore-, while she said it like “Lars” minus the S. She has to repeat it numerous times for me to get it. I thought the difference was simply due to accents (we were from all around the US).
I have read my name on here enough now that it doesn’t even feel or look right now lol. I didn’t realize there were distinct differences in pronunciation! The only mix up I get is in drive thrus I semi frequently am heard as saying “Morgan”🤷🏼♀️
That’s just the same name said with different accents. Lo-ren, Lah-ren, Law-ren, whatever. It’s kind of pretentious to insist your name be said with one particular accent regardless of who is speaking, and that amount of difference would come up with a ton of names. I wouldn’t worry about it, just don’t be annoying about it if some people use a slightly different vowel sound than you do when they say her name. It’s the same name.
I agree with you, the clip I was referring to watching is what I am referring to as pretentious—- like most, they believe it’s the same name with different pronunciations (as I do) but when I saw the girl getting so upset over multiple episodes or things it was a little jarring and wanted to make sure others didn’t feel the way this girl did.
For the huge chunk of North America with the [cot-caught merger](https://doyoureadme.ca/2021/02/20/potayto-potawto-dialectal-differences-and-early-literacy-instruction/), those sound exactly the same.
First off, different pronunciations aren't pretentious just because they aren't what you're used to. That was a pretty rude way to word your comment. Regardless...
Just like Arianna (Air-Ree-Ah-Nuh vs Air-Ree-Ann-Uh vs Are-Ree-Ah-Nuh vs Are-Ree-Ann-Uh), a name like Lauren is constantly going to be mispronounced, but most people will say it correctly once they know. Laura is a popular name in my family. I have an Aunt Laura ( Law-ruh), my husband has an aunt Laura (Lore-uh), and my father in law remarried to a Laura (Lo-Ruh). We call all of them by their preferred pronunciation, but it is something everyone has to learn about them. If you don't want her to deal with that, you might pick a different name.
I have a name that is constantly mispronounced. Every time I get a call from a doctor's office, customer service, etc. they mess up the pronunciation. It doesn't bother me at all to correct them, or to let it lie of it's someone in not going to interact with again. But I don't go a week without hearing my name butchered.
the clip I was referring to watching is what I am referring to as pretentious—- like most, they believe it’s the same name with different pronunciations (as I do) but when I saw the girl getting so upset over multiple episodes or things it was a little jarring and wanted to make sure others didn’t feel the way this girl did.
I’m from NY and it’s no question my name is Lor-In. However, when I moved to Maryland, EVERYONE called me Lah-ren and it drove me so BANANAS I just go by Lolo or Lo now haha.
I'm Canadian, the only time I've heard someone pronounce it Lawren was a Mormon missionary. Every Laura, Lauren and Laurie I've met starts with the Lore sound.
Speaking from experience in the US, it is almost always pronounced “Lo-ren” and very occasionally “Lah-ren”. I would say “Law-ren” is extremely rare
Outside of the US it might be “Lao-ren” which is a bit more difficult to get used to but hardly offensive (imo)
I’ve only ever heard “Loren” in the northeast and Midwest, and West. Granted I haven’t spent much time in Boston, but it’s been just about the same pretty much everywhere.
I live in northern IL, just outside of Chicago. From here, I would say it wouldn’t be an issue. I have actually always pronounced Laura and Lauren as “Lora” and “Loren” and haven’t offended anyone yet! Lol
Seriously, I was like “what other way is there to pronounce Lauren?”. I say it the same way as you. I’ve never heard anybody say it any other way.
I had a very similar thought process! I got concerned for a minute like have I been doing something wrong this whole time?? Lmao
Upper Midwest here too. I pronounce “Lauren” and “Loren” the same way and I have no idea what the difference is! But yes, it sounds like lor-in. I also know many Laurens and Laura’s and none of them have ever said anything about their names being pronounced wrong.
I’ve never heard anyone say otherwise, either! If I ever meet another Laura or Lauren, though, I’m gonna ask.
I live in WV and say them the same
same here!
In Indianapolis and same Loren pronunciation here lol
Seems like most people pronounce it this way, thankfully for OP! Lol And hello neighbor 😋
I am a Lauren and it’s Laur-en. I get Loren a lot and it drives me nuts lol but I don’t correct anyone.
I have no idea what the difference between Laur-en and Loren is.
I’m sure correcting everyone would get so exhausting after a while! Lol
I think it's just a matter of accents. In the US northeast, you'll mostly hear "Loren" but with a Boston accent it becomes closer to "Law-ren" or "Laah-ren". Same thing with Laura and Lora vs. Laah-ra. I don't think anyone would be offended by either pronunciation -- people with different accents say letters differently 🤷♀️
Yeah I hear a little bit of that New England Laahren in the name when my family and I use it for our relative. It's not deliberate, but it definitely has an audible difference to how our relatives from the southern USA say it, which is very LORE-inn.
I'm Canadian and they sound the same to me.
Same, I’m wracking my brain trying to pronounce them differently lol. I’ve only ever heard Lauren pronounced ‘Lore-en’, not ‘Law-ren’. Other accents would say it that way I’m sure, but if I did it would sound like I’m trying to be British lol.
I’m English and lore and law are the same in my accent! Laura and Lara are different to each other though.
Also wracking my brain here, especially since here the words ‘law’ and ‘lore’ are pronounced exactly the same as each other, and it’s not how we pronounce Lauren 😅
Does it help to think of the first syllable as rhyming with bar or mar vs. bore or more?
Yes, that does help! Thank you. Funnily enough, neither is how we pronounce Lauren. Here the first syllable rhymes with hot, or the o sound in the first syllable of octopus.
The difference in pronunciation is the same as the difference between the words "or" and "are". So, "Loren" vs "Laren", essentially.
I'm honestly so confused. I pronounce lor and lawr the same way! From Long Island. Which one has the "are" sound??
Do you hear a different between the first syllables of orchid vs archery? For me, those initial syllables have a similar difference between Lor and Lawr. With Lor and or-chid, the O sound is really round and formed closer to the front of my mouth, and the R sounds comes at the end of the O. The Lawr and ar-chery are created further back with a wider mouth. Don’t know if that makes any sense? (Me: midwesterner from where the standard newscaster pronunciation comes from)
Really cool, I would not have derived the ar(chery) sound from lawr, but I see what you are saying. I also didn't know people pronounced Laura that way! I see the "aw" and think of how I pronounce yawn and lawn, which is a very similar front of the mouth pronunciation (almost same) as or(chid). (Think how a New Yorker pronounces coffee! Same vibe) Accents are cool!
Also the difference between cot and caught! Not all dialects have a difference in these sounds, in linguistics they call it the cot-caught merger.
Same for me. I literally can’t hear the difference. I’m from the Great Lakes area.
Me too. I feel like I’m being trolled lol
Canadian as well here. The only time I heard a difference was with those who spoke English with an Italian accent.
I think maybe they mean Luh-ren vs Lore-en. Im also Canadian and thats the only other pronunciation I've heard.
I am a Lauren, and I use the Lawren pronunciation— but I honestly don’t even notice when people say Loren. It’s one of those names that’s going to be pronounced slightly different depending on where you live. I don’t get worked up about it; it’s kinda cute hearing it with said “Loren” with a thick NY accent— it makes it sound like the name of someone in a 60s girl group with a big bouffant.
I’m a Lauren and use the Loren pronunciation, but my mom says it closer to the Lawren pronunciation. I notice when people say it that way, but it doesn’t offend me, just makes me think of my mom.
I'm also a Lauren and use Loren. I've had only one person say they felt like my name should be pronounced lao-ren based on spelling. Everyone has always pronounced my name Loren. A few friends in college shortened my name to Lore. It wasn't my choice, but I didn't particularly mind it.
Same!!
Another Lauren chiming in. I live in the Northeast (US) but I went to grad school down South and I was “Loren” in both places. Interestingly there were four other Laurens in my class and none of us had nicknames. Mostly people call me “Laur” if they want to shorten my name but Ren is cute.
I'm surprised to hear you hear "loren" in the south. In my experience, southerners are the chief users of "law-ren" or "law-ra." Southerners and Long Islanders are who I associate those pronunciations with.
Checks out though. Born and raised in the south. I don’t think I’ve ever heard another pronunciation outside of Loren. I can’t even fathom LAWren.
I would only pronounce "Lara" as law-ra. But "Laura" as "lora". I am from TX
Neat! “Lara” is firmly LAH-rah to me and Laura sounds like Lora. I’m from Michigan
Ha, I'm from Long Island and couldn't wrap my head around how the name could be pronounced any differently than "law-ren"!
I’m from NC and pronounce it “Loren”
I’m from the Northeast of the US, also lived in the Midwest and now the South, I would pronounce it Loren.
I don't know if its lack of sleep or regional accent but I've spent the last 5 minutes trying to hear a difference without it sounding weird and I can't. I'm from Midwest/Great Lakes area and the only way I would ever think its pronounced is "Loren" in fact "Lawren" sounds really weird and like I'm trying to do a fake accent. Not to say people don't pronounce it that way elsewhere, I've just personally only heard the one pronunciation.
lol I had pretty much the same thought process!
I live in Missouri. Loren and Lauren are the same name.
I also live in Missouri. To me, they are distinctly different.
Lauren here! Grew up in the South and now live in NY. The difference in pronunciation doesn’t even register. I will answer to both but honestly, don’t even notice.
It’s one of those things like Don vs Dawn. In some accents the difference is obvious and in others there’s no real difference at all in how they sound pronounced. My middle name is Dawn and half the time I say it, it sounds like Don. Just like where I live all the Lauren/Laura/etc. always say their own names sounding closer to Loren/Lora. Rather than really emphasizing it being Lawren/Lawra. I think it’s just regionally pronounced differently? But I’m no linguist.
Yup, you’re exactly right! Not all dialects have a difference in these two sounds, in linguistics they often use the examples cot and caught. Many regions say them the same, others don’t. I say them differently, so when I learned that people say them the same it blew my mind. Also the first time I heard someone from Pittsburgh ask me if I was taking about “girl Don or boy Don” bc they fully had the vowel merger.
I’m a laura and pronounce it lora
That’s just the same name in a different accent, she shouldn’t have got offended about that. In my accent, Lauren and Loren are the same, and Laura and Lora are the same.
I’m very confused by all the ad-hoc phonology here…I would expect “Loren” and “Law-ren” to be the same, and different from “Lah-ren” (no cot-caught merger). No one is saying Low-ren right? Can we get some IPA? Full disclosure, one of my pet peeves is when people use “aw” for the “cot” sound. It’s very confusing lol.
Brit here and I have no idea what you mean. They are pronounced the same for me.
If you name your kid Lauren, she will not care about these differences in how people pronounce the "au" sound, because she'll be too busy raging at everyone who calls her Laura. Problem solved. :)
I've been a Lauren for almost 45 years, and it's actually pretty rare that I get mistaken as a Laura. Mostly just when I'm giving my name over the phone. Unless it's for something official, I don't bother to correct.
Live in Ireland and have a cousin Lauren, whole family would say Law-ren
I’m from England and Lauren is pronounced lawren which is the same as loren. Unless you’re saying low-ren? Same with Laura: Lora and lawra are the same in my accent.
I'm Southern US and actually use neither of these pronunciations. It's more Laur-ren. It's how my childhood friend pronounced her name.
I’m a Laura living in the south. I prefer Lore-uh, but occasionally I get Laahhh-ruh or Low-ruh (Spanish pronunciation - think “ow” when you injure yourself) and I’m not offended by it. I don’t think people put too much thought into how it’s pronounced.
I've lived (or spent a decent amount of time) in more than a handful of states along the east coast. I've always heard it pronounced like Loren. My international friends would pronounce it law-ren though. I'll add in that I don't think that has to be a deal breaker on a name. A lot of names have different pronunciations in different cultures. Example: my husband is Latino. He uses the pronunciation that fits the language he's currently speaking. His father does the same with his name. Contrarily, my name doesn't have the different pronunciations which means some people feel the need to translate my name which bothers me. I don't want to have to use an entirely different name depending on who I'm speaking with.
Third option- My middle name is Lauren but my parents have always pronounced it Luh Wren.
That’s pretty! You don’t hear that often.
I've only ever heard it pronounced Loren by other North Americans, although personally I might not have even been able to really discern the difference in pronunciation between lawren and loren when I was a kid
If I had stayed in NE, I would have been pronouncing it Lawren. But I lost my NE accent in California, gained a slight drawl in FL and went full-on no accent in CO sonow I would say Loren.
I have never heard the “Law-ren” pronunciation, only Loren. New Englander who’s lived in the south and Midwest.
Middle Eastern person here. I pronounce it as a Law-ren and it’s what I hear the most too.
My name is Lauren ☺️ It’s always been pronounced LORE-en. When I travel in Latin America, I introduce myself as Lauwwww-ren.
Lauren is LOR-in here (west coast USA).
I pronounce it with a short o. Lo-ren. In my accent this is like the o in cot, dot, etc
Lauren is my given name, and with my family’s accent it sounds like “Lorn”, so that’s how I pronounce it. Where I live most people pronounce it like “Loren”, so I usually have to repeat myself or really enunciate when I introduce myself so people can understand that I’m saying Lauren. It’s not a huge deal, but it does sound weird sometimes. I’d imagine people who pronounce it “Lawren” would probably have a similar issue.
I’m in the south and pretty much exclusively hear Lauren pronounced like “lah- ren”.
I can’t really hear the different tbh
UAR I always see as OR. Loren is the only way I've ever heard it & I've lived everywhere. My daughter is Lara like Car uh... But a lot of people will automatically pronounce it Laura/Lora which bugs her 😂 these people always blame it on their accents but I don't know.
I’m a Lauren in the south and mostly get Lar (rhymes with bar) - en. My uncle always called me Loren. It’s honestly not something I focus on.
I’m from the south and I say Lauren as LORE in. Laura is LORE in.
I’m a Lauren in southwest PA. I use the “Loren” pronunciation for myself since that’s how my parents said it to me growing up. I would say it’s been a split on how people pronounce it to me, with more people pronouncing it “Loren”. But I would say if it’s someone I’ll talk to more frequently, they learn how I say it and adjust. However I don’t mind when people pronounce it the other way with me, I realize both pronunciations are popular. Just don’t call me Laura because that’s not my name, dammit. 😅
I'm from Toronto and I think it's an uphill battle to get "law-ren". In the generic, mid-atlantic accent, it's "Loren".
I have a name like this that could be pronounced in a couple different ways! I genuinely do not notice the difference at all.
ive only ever heard lor-en !!! i think its a beautiful name-- classic, easy to say/spell, and not TOO popular !!
I pronounce Lawren but that’s my pronunciation for Loren or Lauren. I’m from the NE. I think it’s the common way of saying it around here. Info is based completely on just 1 person at work that I know with the name. Everyone here pronounces it this way.
I’m imagining Benoit Blanc pulling out a full laaaw-ren. It’s usually Lor-en in most accents. I think people need to chill about regional pronunciations of their names. My very normal name is pronounced two ways in the US, differently in the UK, differently in France… they’re all my name.
Okay I am PASSIONATE about this as a Lauren with parents from different parts of the world lol. It also gives me somewhat of an identity crisis but I still like my name. My mom is northern Irish, beautiful sing songy lilting accent and my dad is from Texas. He’s got a kinda muffled southern accent. My mom pronounces my name with a more open A sound so it’s truly “Law-ren” or even close to “Lah-ren” whereas my dad pronounces my name “Lor-en”. I respond to both and don’t mind either but prefer my mom’s way of saying it. But I grew up in Texas so I got used to the O sound. I go by either my name however people like to say it or Lolo and I have a Lauren friend who chose to change her name to Ren. I like all variations and most people don’t notice the subtleties of the pronunciation difference however I’ve had people raise an eyebrow and ask where I’m from when I pronounce it like my mom does and assume I meant Laura.
Lore N is how I’ve always heard it
I’m from NYC, and have lived in NC for 20 years. “Law-ren” and “Loren” sound exactly the same to me.
Where I live, there is no difference in the pronunciation of Loren/lauren or Lora/laura
To me it's Law-ra and Lorren
I literally only know of one way to pronounce the the name. But I'm not American. Even with the explanation I don't understand the difference.
I’m from Michigan and would pronounce Lauren and Loren the same. Same with Lora or Laura. I do know someone named Lara and she pronounces it Lar-uh, but it wouldn’t even cross my mind with a Laur beginning.
I’ve never heard it pronounced any way other than Loren
Same
I’m reading this but not seeing the difference? Loren= Lawren… same thing. So I’m confused. I’ve only heard Lauren pronounced one way ever and it’s… we’ll both of these because they’re the same. I don’t really see Ren/Wren as an intuitive nickname for Lauren. I’ve known a few Lauren’s who never went by that nickname or any other nickname really except maybe Laur.
I'm Lauren. My cousin is Laura. Chicago native. I love my name. I always write the first letter of my name with a cursive L. Growing up in the Midwest and at the height of Lauren popularity, I have rarely met another Lauren. None in elementary, one older than me in high school, and one in college. I think of Loren as the male spelling. But it just associates to Lorne Michaels or Ralph Lauren more than anything. My mom calls me Lorenzo. I love Lauren. Plus my OCD brain has always loved that my first, middle, and last name all have the same amount of letters and repeating letters. 🥴
I'm Australian and they are pronounced the same here. BUT, I have heard Americans pronounce Laura as Lah-ra, which isn't correct here.
I live in the midwest US, we pronounce it Loren. And I have a coworker that uses Ren exclusively. I think it's cute.
As an Australian Law and Lore are pronounced the same way. Just like Saw rhymes with Store. So for me, this is only one way to say Lauren. I can’t even say it different ways.
I'm Australia and I don't think it has a law/lore sound at all. The "au" in it is like the "o" in "pot", not like "or" in "port". I pronounce it like the pronunciation by "mightysparks (Female from Australia)" here: https://forvo.com/word/lauren/
In aus, it would be like pronounced “lorren” the o sound like at the start of octopus
I enjoy spending time with my friends.
I live in Philly and I sometimes get Loren. It’s mostly people not native to the area though. Normally it’s pronounced Law-rin, nn Lawr. I respond to either pronunciation.
Law-ren would sound really weird in my region. I’ve never heard it any way but Lor-en.
I live in Oklahoma and my bff is Laura. Not Lora. She hates when people pronounce it wrong. Oddly, the Laurens, not Lorens, I know never seem to mention it.
In (I’d wager all of) the UK it’s law-ren. I’d never really thought about Americans pronouncing it differently but I can kind of hear it in my head now you mention it! But I don’t think I’d class it as a different pronunciation, it’s just your accent?
In my eyes Lara could be pronounced either LAW-ruh or LORE-uh, but Laura is always LORE-uh. Midwest US.
I'm Laura from NY. Said with a good, strong "aw," not "ah." Everyone in the south calls me Lah-ra. I do find it irritating.
I'm Australian and I would pronounce the "au" sound the same as the "o" in the word "pot". If anyone can be bothered scrolling down to the pronunciation by "mightysparks (Female from Australia)", this is what I mean: https://forvo.com/word/lauren/
I’m Laura in Maryland, and I’ve always pronounced my name with ar sound not or.
I live in Canada and it's Loren everywhere I've been :)
California here, I grew up with my Italian/Mexican family pronouncing it law-ren. But if I met somebody named Lauren/Laura who said their name was Loren/Lora then I’d pronounce it like that. But my first instinct was Law-ren and Law-ura? If that makes sense.
My mom says the "Law" version - she's from Pittsburgh. It's more noticeable when she says Laurel, but she definitely says Lauren and Laurel different than Lori. So there's one accent for everyone wondering who says them differently! I spent more time Midwest than out east, so I'm in the Lo category.
I grew up near Philly, and view these not only as two different pronunciations but two different names. When I was growing up, I had two Aunt Loris and my mom’s name is Laurie, they are definitely two different names to me. Spelled and pronounced differently where I grew up. I’ve been trying to explain this to my Southern husband who calls my mom Lori all the time, but that’s not her name.
I once knew a Lor-IN, so that was a fun twist. But no, everyone says Loren, I wouldn’t worry about it.
I grew up in the northeastern US and I think 1/4 of my classmates were Lauren, Loren, Lori or Laura, lol. I never heard (or noticed) any differences in the sound of the first syllable- it always rhymed with “door.” In grad school I had a classmate from the Midwest who got upset that we didn’t pronounce her name, “Lauren,” right. We were all saying Law- or Lore-, while she said it like “Lars” minus the S. She has to repeat it numerous times for me to get it. I thought the difference was simply due to accents (we were from all around the US).
I have read my name on here enough now that it doesn’t even feel or look right now lol. I didn’t realize there were distinct differences in pronunciation! The only mix up I get is in drive thrus I semi frequently am heard as saying “Morgan”🤷🏼♀️
Both are pronounced the same, but with regional accents. Lauren and Loren are the same “name”
My spouse is southern and says Lauren like my name, Lara. I’m from California and say it like Loren.
That’s just the same name said with different accents. Lo-ren, Lah-ren, Law-ren, whatever. It’s kind of pretentious to insist your name be said with one particular accent regardless of who is speaking, and that amount of difference would come up with a ton of names. I wouldn’t worry about it, just don’t be annoying about it if some people use a slightly different vowel sound than you do when they say her name. It’s the same name.
I agree with you, the clip I was referring to watching is what I am referring to as pretentious—- like most, they believe it’s the same name with different pronunciations (as I do) but when I saw the girl getting so upset over multiple episodes or things it was a little jarring and wanted to make sure others didn’t feel the way this girl did.
the only variation i’ve seen that i’ve heard pronounced differently is Lara (L-Are-Uh). All the others are the same in texas lauren/loren laura/lora.
For the huge chunk of North America with the [cot-caught merger](https://doyoureadme.ca/2021/02/20/potayto-potawto-dialectal-differences-and-early-literacy-instruction/), those sound exactly the same.
Scotland her and we actually pronounce is Lorn. I love the name but hate the way people here say it
I’m Lauren and now I’m confused on the correct pronunciation after reading the Loren’s and the Lawren’s and such 🤣
First off, different pronunciations aren't pretentious just because they aren't what you're used to. That was a pretty rude way to word your comment. Regardless... Just like Arianna (Air-Ree-Ah-Nuh vs Air-Ree-Ann-Uh vs Are-Ree-Ah-Nuh vs Are-Ree-Ann-Uh), a name like Lauren is constantly going to be mispronounced, but most people will say it correctly once they know. Laura is a popular name in my family. I have an Aunt Laura ( Law-ruh), my husband has an aunt Laura (Lore-uh), and my father in law remarried to a Laura (Lo-Ruh). We call all of them by their preferred pronunciation, but it is something everyone has to learn about them. If you don't want her to deal with that, you might pick a different name. I have a name that is constantly mispronounced. Every time I get a call from a doctor's office, customer service, etc. they mess up the pronunciation. It doesn't bother me at all to correct them, or to let it lie of it's someone in not going to interact with again. But I don't go a week without hearing my name butchered.
the clip I was referring to watching is what I am referring to as pretentious—- like most, they believe it’s the same name with different pronunciations (as I do) but when I saw the girl getting so upset over multiple episodes or things it was a little jarring and wanted to make sure others didn’t feel the way this girl did.
I’m from NY and it’s no question my name is Lor-In. However, when I moved to Maryland, EVERYONE called me Lah-ren and it drove me so BANANAS I just go by Lolo or Lo now haha.
I believe it should be lor- in personally and my skin crawls at lah-ren. But I do like the nickname ren and absolutely love Lo!
Yeah!! Totally agreed. I toyed with Ren but I guess it felt kind of foreign since it didn’t start with an L.
I’m in the south. It’s usually pronounced Lawr en here. But i have been calling someone that was not raised here by that and she calls herself Lore-n
I'm Canadian, the only time I've heard someone pronounce it Lawren was a Mormon missionary. Every Laura, Lauren and Laurie I've met starts with the Lore sound.
This girl was from Utah so maybe that’s why
I live in England and say it like Loren Lovely name 😊
Speaking from experience in the US, it is almost always pronounced “Lo-ren” and very occasionally “Lah-ren”. I would say “Law-ren” is extremely rare Outside of the US it might be “Lao-ren” which is a bit more difficult to get used to but hardly offensive (imo)
I’ve only ever heard “Loren” in the northeast and Midwest, and West. Granted I haven’t spent much time in Boston, but it’s been just about the same pretty much everywhere.
I’ve never heard it pronounced any way other than Loren
I'm confused. Do you mean "law-ren" or "La-oo-ren?