Lindsey
Masculine · “Lincoln's island”
Lindsey is given to both — 7,735 boys and 157,551 girls since 1880. See Lindsey as a girl 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 was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Lindsey alive today was born around 1958, making them about 67 years old. About 4,700 people named Lindsey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lindsey most popular?
Lindsey peaked in 1886, reaching #451 nationally. See the whole 1886 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1955154 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #451reached in 1886
- Change vs 2018
- −36.4%7 in 2024, from 11
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.
Lindseys among us
people named Lindsey are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Lindsey sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
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.
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Lindsey
Masculine
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 4,700 people named Lindsey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lindsey in 2025?
- Lindsey is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Lindsey with classmates?
- Lindsey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Larry#1084 · Lawrence#518 · Louis#249 · Logan#53 · Liam#1 · Lucas#10 · Luke#33 · Leonard#637
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lindsey? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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