Lina
Feminine
Lina is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 19,489 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Lina is one of those short names that turned up independently in several places and then found each other. In Europe it grew out of the tail end of longer names — Carolina, Angelina, Adelina — and simply stopped needing them; in Arabic it stands on its own, from a word for a tender young palm. Two syllables, both open, and almost every language that meets it reads it the same way.
How old is the name Lina?
Lina was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Lina alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 15,000 people named Lina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lina most popular?
Lina peaked in 1880, reaching #219 nationally. Today it ranks #572, 353 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Where it comes from
From Carolina, Adelina, Angelina to Lina
The story of Lina
The ‑lina ending belongs to a long family of Latin names — Carolina, Adelina, Paulina, Evelina — and in Italy, Germany and Scandinavia the habit of shortening them to the last two syllables goes back centuries. By the nineteenth century Lina was being registered as a full given name in its own right across German- and Italian-speaking Europe, and it traveled to the United States with those families. Separately, and with no connection to that line, Lina has long been used in Arabic-speaking countries. American records show the name from their earliest years onward, quietly present through every change of fashion, and it appears again on children now.
Meaningscholars disagree
Two roads: the ending of names like Carolina, Angelina and Adelina, cut loose; and an Arabic name from a word for softness, used for a young palm tree
The European Lina is a clipping — the final syllables of Latin-derived names in ‑lina, used so long on their own that they became a name in their own right. That path carries no meaning beyond its parent name's. The Arabic لينا comes from the root for soft or tender; līna is also a word for a kind of palm, which appears in the Qur'an (59:5). Both are genuine, and a given Lina may come from either.
How the name formed
- Carolina, Adelina, Angelina
- Lina
Related forms: لينا · Lina · Lina · Lena · Лина · Lina
Pronouncing Lina
LEE-nuh
LEE-nuh is the standard reading in English, Arabic, German, Italian and Spanish alike. Where the name is taken as a short form of Carolina, some English speakers say LY-nuh, so it is worth deciding early which one you will correct people to.
Nicknames for Lina
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 2025527 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #219reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- +2.5%527 in 2025, from 514
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Lina in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- لينا in Arabic — transliteration
- Lina in German — same name
- Lina in Italian — same name
- Lena in Swedish — related form
- Лина in Russian — transliteration
- Lina in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from INSEE. Sources
Linas among us
people named Lina are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 3,050 born in 2025 was named Lina
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Lina is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Lina is headed
Lina should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Lina beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lina in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, two syllables, and read the same way in Arabic, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish — it crosses borders without changing shape.
- Complete on its own, but it also works as the everyday form of Carolina, Angelina or Adelina if you want a longer name on the certificate.
- Familiar in sound without being crowded — a child is unlikely to share it in a classroom.
- A long, unbroken record in the United States: present among older generations and rising again among children now.
- Lena, Leena, Lyna and Lina all circulate, and so do two pronunciations. Expect a lifetime of small corrections — a friendly one, but constant.
- On the phone it is easily heard as Nina, Lena or Tina. Spelling it out becomes routine.
- It is very short, which reads well beside a longer surname and can feel clipped beside a one-syllable one. Worth saying the full name aloud a few times.
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What they receive
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Lina
Feminine · #572 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Linas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 15,000 people named Lina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lina in 2025?
- Lina ranks #572 among US girl names in 2025, with 527 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lina?
- About 1 in every 3,050 US girls born in 2025 was named Lina — 527 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lina with classmates?
- Lina will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lina
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Estelle#573 · Miller#571 · Sevyn#574 · Cali#574 · Allie#569 · Hadassah#569 · Mckenzie#576 · Cleo#577
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lina? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lina and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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