Linn
Masculine · “a waterfall or the pool below it”
Linn is given to both — 1,450 boys and 844 girls since 1880. See Linn as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Linn is a Scots word for a waterfall, and for the pool underneath one. It turns up across the Scottish map wherever a burn drops over rock, it is still in ordinary use in parts of Scotland, and it is a different word from the Welsh one about lakes that most people assume is behind names of this shape.
How old is the name Linn?
Linn first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Linn alive today was born around 1947, making them about 78 years old. About 700 people named Linn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Linn most popular?
Linn peaked in 1882, reaching #837 nationally. See the whole 1882 chart.
Where it comes from
From A Scots word for a waterfall and its pool to Linn
The story of Linn
The word describes a specific and recognizable feature: not any waterfall but the kind where a burn cuts through rock and drops into a dark pool, which in Scotland is common enough to need a word. It appears in place names across the country and in Scots poetry, and it survives in ordinary speech in the north-east. It is also, quite separately, a Scandinavian woman's name and a common Swedish surname, and a short form of several longer names in English. Four routes to three letters. The Welsh word that everybody reaches for means a lake and belongs to a different language and a different set of names, and the resemblance has caused a great deal of confusion in reference works.
Meaningscholars disagree
a waterfall or the pool below it
The Scots word means a torrent, a waterfall or the deep pool at its foot, and it is well attested in place names and in speech. Whether a given example of this name comes from that word, from a Scandinavian personal name, or from a clipping of something longer cannot be determined from the spelling, and all three routes were available.
How the name formed
- A Scots word for a waterfall and its pool
- Common in Scottish place names and speech
- Also a Scandinavian name and surname
- Linn in American records for both sexes
Related forms: Linn · Linn
Pronouncing Linn
LIN
One syllable, said exactly as the Scots word. The doubled n is a spelling convention rather than an audible doubling, and Lyn, Lynn and Linn are identical in speech.
Nicknames for Linn
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
- 1882
- Most boys named
- 194750 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #837reached in 1882
- Change vs 1985
- −28.6%5 in 1989, from 7
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.
Linn in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Linn in Swedish — same name
- Linn in Norwegian — same name
Linns among us
people named Linn 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
Linn 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
- One syllable, no ambiguity, and nothing at all to teach anybody.
- It works on the register for either child, which the record confirms.
- It has a genuine Scots meaning that can be explained in four words.
- Three spellings of this sound are in circulation and none is standard.
- It reads as a short form, and people will ask what it stands for.
- The Welsh lake word is not behind it, though everybody assumes so.
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What they receive
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Linn
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Linns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Linn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Linn in 2025?
- Linn is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Linn with classmates?
- Linn 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 Linn? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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