Lincoln
Feminine · “colony at the pool”
Lincoln is given to boys far more often — 104,918 boys against 2,050 girls since 1880. See Lincoln as a boy name
Lincoln joins a Celtic word for a pool to the Latin colonia — Lindum Colonia, the settlement at the pool.
How old is the name Lincoln?
Lincoln first appears in US birth records in 1985 — 40 years ago. The typical Lincoln is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,000 people named Lincoln are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lincoln most popular?
Lincoln peaked in 2017, reaching #1065 nationally. Today it ranks #2387, 1,322 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Lindum Colonia to Lincoln
The story of Lincoln
Lindum was a Brittonic name for the pool in the Witham, and the Romans made it a colonia for discharged soldiers; the two halves fused into Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln made the surname a given name in America. Feminine use is recent and appears in the registers in current use.
Meaning
colony at the pool
From the Roman Lindum Colonia — lindo, a Brittonic word for a pool or lake, and colonia, a settlement of retired legionaries. The Brittonic element is cognate with the Welsh llyn, 'lake'. The etymology is documented and unusually clean.
How the name formed
- Lindum Colonia
- Lincoln
Related forms: Llyn · Colonia
Pronouncing Lincoln
LINK-un
Two syllables, stress on the first. The second l is silent.
Nicknames for Lincoln
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
- 1985
- Most girls named
- 2017241 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1065reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- −2.6%75 in 2025, from 77
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.
Lincoln in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Llyn in Welsh — related form
- Colonia in Latin — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Lincolns among us
people named Lincoln are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 21,430 born in 2025 was named Lincoln
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Burma test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Lincoln's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Burma climbed just as high around 1941, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Burma's path sketches the road Lincoln is walking now.
Lincoln sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Lincoln is headed
Lincoln is easing off slowly — about 32% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium 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.
Lincoln beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lincoln in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the name fuses a Celtic pool and a Roman veterans' colony is a first-rate etymology.
- Linc and Lin are two short forms, both usable.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- One president dominates the association entirely.
- It reads as masculine to most English speakers.
- The feminine use is very new.
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What they receive
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Lincoln
Feminine · #2387 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lincolns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,000 people named Lincoln are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lincoln in 2025?
- Lincoln ranks #2387 among US girl names in 2025, with 75 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lincoln?
- About 1 in every 21,430 US girls born in 2025 was named Lincoln — 75 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lincoln with classmates?
- Lincoln will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lincoln
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Maiya#2387 · Rena#2387 · Eviana#2387 · Dora#2387 · Shannon#2387 · Mariyah#2387 · Jeanette#2387 · Yana#2387
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lincoln? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lincoln and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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