Lars

Origin

Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel", and is therefore related to the names Laurence and Lauren.

A homonymous Etruscan name was borne by several Etruscan kings, and later used as a last name by the Roman Lartia family. The etymology of the Etruscan name is unknown.

Notable people

Lars I, bishop of Linköping (1236–1258)

Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt (born 1974), Swedish composer and vocalist

Lars II, bishop of Linköping (1292–1307)

Lars (archbishop of Uppsala) (1255–1267)

Lars Kristian Abrahamsen (1855–1921), Norwegian politician

Lars Ahlfors (1907–1996), Finnish Fields Medal recipient

Lars Amble (1939–2015), Swedish actor and director

Lars Herminius Aquilinus, ancient Roman consul

Lars Bak (born 1980), Danish road bicycle racer

Lars Bak (computer programmer) (born 1965), Danish computer programmer

Lars Beckman (born 1967), Swedish politician

Lars Bender (born 1989), German footballer

Lars Blixt (footballer, born 1965) (born 1965), Swedish footballer

Lars Blixt (footballer, born 1976) (born 1976), Norwegian footballer

Lars Christensen (1884–1965), Norwegian shipowner, whaling magnate and philanthropist

Lars Ditlev (1951–2021), Danish-American football player

Lars Engberg (1943–2017), Danish politician

Lars Magnus Ericsson (1846–1926), Swedish inventor

Lars Eriksson (footballer, born 1926) (1926–1994), Swedish footballer

Lars Eriksson (footballer, born 1965), Swedish footballer

Lars Eriksson (ice hockey) (born 1961), Swedish ice hockey player

Lars Eriksson (musician) (born 1980), Swedish singer-songwriter

Lars Eriksson (politician) (born 1970), Swedish politician

Lars Frederiksen (born 1971), American musician

Lars Frölander (born 1974), Swedish swimmer

Lars Eilebrecht (born 1972), German software engineer

Lars Eller (born 1989), Danish ice hockey player

Lars Engsund (born 1968), Swedish politician

Lars Grael (born 1964), Brazilian sailor

Lars Gullin (1928–1976), Swedish jazz saxophonist

Lars Haglund (born 1940), Swedish discus thrower

Lars Hedström (1919–2004), Swedish diplomat

Lars Jorgensen (born 1970), American swimmer and college coach

Lars Peter Hansen (born 1952), American economist and Nobel laureate

Lars Haugen (born 1987), Norwegian ice hockey player

Lars Hegaard (born 1950), Danish composer and guitarist

Lars Heggen (born 2005), Norwegian cross-country skier

Lars Hjortsberg (1772–1843), Swedish actor

Lars Holte (born 1966), Norwegian trance producer and DJ

Lars Hörmander (1931–2012), Swedish mathematician and Fields Medal recipient

Lars Isacsson (born 1970), Swedish politician

Lars Iyer (born 1970), British novelist and philosopher

Lars Jansson (cartoonist) (1926–2000), Finnish author and cartoonist

Lars Jansson (composer) (born 1951), Swedish jazz pianist and composer

Lars Jönsson (film producer) (born 1961), Swedish film producer

Lars Jonsson (ice hockey) (born 1982), Swedish ice hockey player

Lars Jonsson (illustrator) (born 1952), Swedish artist and ornithologist

Lars Jönsson (tennis) (born 1970), Swedish tennis player

Lars Kleppich (born 1967), Australian sailor

Lars Klingbeil (born 1978), German politician

Lars Knudsen (born 1962), Danish researcher in cryptography

Lars Kragh Andersen (born 1980), Danish activist

Lars Krutak (born 1971), American tattoo anthropologist

Lars Kuppi (born 1971), German politician

Lars Lagerbäck (born 1948), Swedish football manager

Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck (born 1963), Swedish musician, better known as Yngwie Malmsteen

Lars Larsen Forsæth (1759–1839), Norwegian farmer and representative

Lars Larsen (1948–2019), Danish businessman

Lars Larsen (1758–1844), Danish merchant, ship-owner and shipbuilder

Lars Larsen (footballer, born 1951), Danish footballer

Lars Larsen (footballer, born 1970), Danish footballer

Lars Larsen (footballer, born 1978), Danish footballer

Lars Larsen (timber merchant) (1737–1817), Danish timber merchant

Lars Larson (born 1959), American conservative talk radio show host

Lars Larsson Molin, known as Lasse-Maja (1785–1845), Swedish thief and memoirist

Lars Leiro (1914–2005), Norwegian politician

Lars Lindberg Christensen (born 1970), Danish astronomer

Lars Ljungberg (born 1977), Swedish musician

Lars Lönnroth (born 1935), Swedish literary scholar

Lars-Erik Lövdén (born 1950), Swedish politician

Lars Mikkelsen (born 1964), Danish actor

Lars Mittank (born 1986), German man who disappeared in 2014

Lars Monsen (born 1963), Norwegian adventurer and journalist

Lars Nootbaar (born 1997), American baseball player

Lars Olsen Aukrust (1886–1965), Norwegian politician

Lars Olsen (born 1961), Danish footballer

Lars Olsen (cyclist) (born 1965), Danish cyclist

Lars Olsen Skrefsrud (1840–1910), Norwegian missionary

Lars Onsager (1903–1976), Norwegian chemist and Nobel laureate

Lars Pensjö, creator of the LPMud software

Lars Petrus (born 1960), Swedish Rubik's Cube champion

Lars Porsena, Etruscan king of Clusium

Lars Püss (born 1966), Swedish politician

Lars Løkke Rasmussen (born 1964), Prime Minister of Denmark, 2009 to 2011 and 2015 to 2019

Lars Kristian Relander (1883–1942), Finnish president

Lars Rem (born 1966), Norwegian politician

Lars Riedel (born 1967), German discus thrower

Lars Rainer Rüetschi (born 1977), Swiss musician

Lars Rønningen (born 1965), Norwegian sport wrestler

Lars Saabye Christensen (born 1953), Norwegian author

Lars Schütze (born 1974), German politician

Lars Sigmundstad (born 1943), Norwegian politician

Lars Skalm (born c. 1430), Finnish noble and mayor of Turku

Lars Spuybroek (born 1959), Dutch architect

Lars Stjernkvist (born 1955), Swedish politician and journalist

Lars Tolumnius (died 437 BC), Etruscan king of Veii

Lars Troell (1916–1998), Swedish surgeon

Lars von Trier (born 1956), Danish film director

Lars Ulrich (born 1963), Danish drummer for the heavy metal band Metallica

Lars Unnerstall (born 1990), German footballer

Lars Vikør (born 1946), Norwegian linguist, translator and educator

Lars Vilks (1946–2021), Swedish artist

Lars Wegendal (born 1949), Swedish politician

Lars-Gösta Elofsson (born 1953), birth name of Swedish politician Blåvitt Elofsson

Lars-Jörn Zimmer (born 1970), German politician

Fictional characters

Lars, the Go Jetters' expert mechanic

Lars, in the Adult Swim television pilot Paid Programming

Lars, in the 1979 film Scavenger Hunt, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger

Laramie "Lars" Barriga, a supporting character in the Steven Universe cartoon series

Lars, in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode The Gamesters of Triskelion

Lars, the unseen husband of Phyllis Lindstrom in The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Lars Alexandersson, in the Tekken series

Lars Fillmore, in the animated movie Futurama: Bender's Big Score

Lars Lindstrom, the lead character of the 2007 film Lars and the Real Girl, portrayed by Ryan Gosling

Dr. Lars Pinfield, in the 2024 film Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, portrayed by James Acaster

Lars Rodriguez, in the Rocket Power TV series

Lars Umlaut, in the Guitar Hero series

Lars, the main character (a baby polar bear) in the children's book series The Little Polar Bear by Hans de Beer

Lars, in the 2011 film The Thing, a prequel to the 1982 film of the same name

Lars, in the 2003 film "101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure", a German artist