Lindsey
Feminine · “Lincoln's island”
Lindsey is given to both — 157,551 girls and 7,735 boys since 1880. See Lindsey as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Lindsey came south from Scotland as an aristocratic surname and ended up, six centuries later, as an American girl's name. The Lindsays were one of the great families of the Scottish nobility, and before that the name was a district of Lincolnshire that used to be an island. The -ey spelling is the one that went to daughters.
How old is the name Lindsey?
Lindsey first appears in US birth records in 1924 — 101 years ago. The typical Lindsey alive today was born around 1990, making them about 35 years old. About 154,000 people named Lindsey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lindsey most popular?
Lindsey peaked in 1983, reaching #35 nationally. Today it ranks #1367, 1,332 places below that high. See the whole 1983 chart.
Where it comes from
From Lindesig to Lindsey
The story of Lindsey
A Norman family took the Lincolnshire name north when they were granted Scottish lands, and the Lindsays became earls of Crawford and one of the most significant houses in Scotland — which is how an English fen district ended up an aristocratic Scottish surname. It crossed to America, became a boy's given name, and then moved decisively to girls in the later twentieth century. The spellings sorted themselves as they usually do: Lindsay stayed available for both, and Lindsey went overwhelmingly to daughters, without anyone ever deciding it.
Meaningscholars disagree
Lincoln's island
The Lincolnshire district is generally read as the old British name behind Lincoln plus the Old English eg, an island — high ground surrounded by fen, which the area genuinely was before drainage. That derivation is standard and the first element's own meaning, probably a word for a pool, is reconstructed. A surname records where a family came from rather than what anything means, and by the time it is a girl's first name it is three removes from the marsh.
How the name formed
- Lindesig
- Lindsay
- Lindsey
Pronouncing Lindsey
LIN-zee
LIN-zee, two syllables, stress at the front, the s voiced as a z between vowels. Lindsay and Lindsey are said identically; the spelling is the only thing that has ever distinguished them.
Nicknames for Lindsey
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
- 1924
- Most girls named
- 19838,679 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #35reached in 1983
- Change vs 2023
- −10.1%161 in 2025, from 179
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.
Lindsey in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Lindseys among us
people named Lindsey are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 9,983 born in 2025 was named Lindsey
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 Jane test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Lindsey's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jane climbed just as high around 1946, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jane's path sketches the road Lindsey is walking now.
Lindsey 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 Lindsey is headed
Lindsey 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.
Lindsey beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lindsey in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has a documented English district and a major Scottish family behind it.
- Lin works as a short form and is a complete name of its own.
- The sound is entirely familiar and never causes a stumble.
- Lindsay is equally standard and the name gets written both ways for life.
- It is strongly tied to one American generation and dates a person fairly precisely.
- It is still a men's name in Britain, so the spelling reads differently depending on which side of the Atlantic is looking at it.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Lindsey
Feminine · #1367 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lindseys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 154,000 people named Lindsey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lindsey in 2025?
- Lindsey ranks #1367 among US girl names in 2025, with 161 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lindsey?
- About 1 in every 9,983 US girls born in 2025 was named Lindsey — 161 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lindsey with classmates?
- Lindsey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lindsey
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ayanna#1367 · Martina#1367 · Ameera#1367 · Petra#1367 · Madalynn#1367 · Cherish#1373 · Keylani#1373 · Asha#1373
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lindsey? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lindsey and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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