The gens Laelia was a plebeian family at Rome. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Laelius in 190 BC.[1]
The only family name of the Laelii was Balbus, a common cognomen, referring to one who stammers. A few of the Laelii used personal surnames, such as Sapiens ("wise"), by which the Laelius who was a friend of the younger Scipio Africanus was sometimes known.[1][2][3]