Larkin

Locally spelled Ларькина in RU Russia.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Attested across 11 languages in the etymology graph.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Larkin, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Arden
• Merritt
• Hollis
• Heron
• Fallon
• Merlin
• Starling
• Robin
• Auden
• Raven
• Peregrine
• Phoenix

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Larkin is also recorded in 2 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic 6 Lorcain ‘descendant of Lorcdn', a personal name from a diminutive of lore ‘fierce’, ‘cruel’, which was sometimes used as an equivalent to Lawrence.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, from a medieval personal name, a pet form of Lawrence, formed with the addition of the Middle English suffix -kin (of Low German origin).

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• James Larkinb. 1876IEIrish socialist and trade union leader (1876–1947)
• Philip Larkinb. 1922GBEnglish writer, jazz critic and librarian (1922-1985)
• Scatman Johnb. 1942USnot in their usual nameAmerican musician (1942–1999)
• Joan Jettb. 1958USnot in their usual nameAmerican rock musician
• Barry Larkinb. 1964USMajor League Baseball shortstop
• Chris Larkinb. 1967GBBritish actor
• Linda Larkinb. 1970USAmerican actress
• Christopher Larkinb. 1987USAmerican actor
• Shane Larkinb. 1992USTurkish-American basketball player (born 1992)
• Mitch Larkinb. 1993AUAustralian swimmer, Olympic athlete, world champion, Commonwealth Games gold medallist

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Larkin mean, and where does it come from?

(i) From the medieval personal name Larkin, literally 'little Lawrence'; (ii) from Irish Gaelic Ó Lorcáin, 'descendant of Lorcán', a name meaning 'little cruel one'. Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

What are other forms of the name Larkin?

In the etymology graph, Lau, Lorenz and Lenz are forms of the same name in other languages.

How do you pronounce Larkin?

A machine transcription gives /ˈɫɑɹkɪn/ (IPA) for English.

In which country does Larkin have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 24 thousand people named Larkin, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled larkin.

How common is the name Larkin?

In the United States, the national register counted 23,578 people named Larkin in 2010, about 1 in 14 thousand residents.

How common is Larkin compared with other names?

In Antigua & Barbuda, Larkin is the 63rd most common surname of 30,187 surnames recorded there.